A Princess & A Redneck
by brunettesoutherngirl
Summary: Brianne Grimes - younger sister of Rick Grimes and almost fiancee of Shane Walsh- is seperated from said almost fiancee before the outbreak begins. During her time away, she crosses paths with the Dixon brothers. They're polar opposites in every way but Brianne trusts him. What will happen when the Dixons and Brianne arrive at the quarry? And just how serious will things get?
1. Leaving Shane

As soon as the phone rang Brianne Grimes – _soon to be Walsh_ \- knew exactly who it was. And when Shane slid out of bed and walked into the living room of his little house, sliding the pocket doors that lead into their bedroom shut behind him, she knew somehow… Lori Grimes was always going to come before her. Her brother's wife was always going to be higher on the priority list of Shane Walsh than his own damn fiancee.

"I cannot live like this anymore." she mumbled to herself as she rolled over so he wouldn't know she'd been awake, she'd heard him answer the phone and leave her lying in bed just to go talk Lori through whatever crisis she thought she needed his help right that second with. She didn't want to fight with him.

She was done fighting.

Apparently, she was the only one who thought that what they could have if he'd stop chasing around her brother Rick's wife was worth fighting for. If he wasn't going to fight for them then Brianne wasn't going to anymore, either.

By the time he'd slid back into bed and his alarm went off again, she'd made up her mind… She was leaving him today.

She was getting out of this situation now before she totally lost the will to do it or she convinced herself a fourth time that he'd change.

He wasn't going to change, not now, not ever.

Brianne acted normally, as if nothing at all were wrong until Shane left for work. She didn't want him getting a heads up. She wanted to hurt him like the way he put Lori before anyone else had been killing her silently for a while now.

Once Shane was gone to the station, Brianne began to pack. Her sister in law called at least 9 times. Brianne didn't answer. She had nothing to say to Lori that Lori wanted to hear her say and Brianne was going to have class about the situation as it stood.

She wasn't going to be catty or bitter; she wasn't going to blame Lori for something Shane probably initiated on his own but Lori stupidly went along with because she was a weak woman.

Shane had always had this one tracked mind where Lori was concerned. Brianne knew the man she loved with all her heart to know that. Loving him was becoming too toxic for her though.

She'd just finished packing her things when she came across the red silk nightie that Shane bought for her. She grumbled and left it draped across the foot post of the wrought iron bed frame.

She didn't think that leaving him was going to hurt like hell but then as she stood there looking around, realizing just how final this was, how she was really doing this, how this part of her life was over… The tears came fast and uncontrollably.

She took that red lipstick he loved so much and she scrawled the word Goodbye on the bedroom mirror. The sun reflected off of the 22 necklace she hadn't taken off since the night he'd given it to her almost 3 years ago. She sighed and quietly, she slipped it off, put it on top of the dresser.

After one last look behind her, she stepped out of the little house he was living in and she locked the door behind her. She got into her Eclipse and she drove away. Her sister in law Lori called her just as she turned on the radio and heard the emergency broadcast alert.

Brianne ignored the call and turned the radio up, her jaw dropping as the radio deejay told listeners how to proceed, where to go and what was going to happen. In less than 8 hours, they were going to evacuate Georgia. Anyone who remained behind was going to die.

Her grip tightened on the wheel.

Shane got home from work early, he'd left so that he could get Brianne and they could get the hell out of town. He stepped into the little house he'd been renting. Normally, there would be the tantalizing smell of something cooking, the radio would be on a local pop station she liked that he hated and she'd be greeting him at the door with a kiss and a beer.

That day all that greeted him was an unnatural silence. "Brie?"

He walked through the house, looking in every room. He'd told himself that maybe she'd just gone to her apartment to pack more things she'd need when they all had to evacuate, but when he opened the bedroom door, the first thing he saw was the word Goodbye. It was scrawled on the bedroom mirror in that bright red lipstick that he loved on her.

It hit him like a ton of bricks. But when it really started to sink in was when he found the 22 necklace and the lingerie he bought for her. They'd broken up before but every single time before, she hadn't given the 22 necklace and the things he'd bought her back. He'd had something to hope for those times.

This time, from the looks of it, he didn't.

He picked up his cell phone and dialed her number.

The call failed.

His stomach sank.

She was out there somewhere, all alone, and now, it was hitting him… he loved her. He needed her. He'd really made a fucking mess of everything.

He tried to call her again, this time, the call went through but he got voicemail.

"C'mon, Brie, pick up yer god damn phone, baby." he mumbled over and over to himself as he went around, packing the things he was going to need into bags.

Maybe she was at her apartment.

He jumped into his Bronco and took off for the side of town Brianne lived in and when he got there, her car wasn't parked in the parking lot of the apartment complex. He called Lori, hoping that maybe she'd talked to him.

"Lori, have you talked ta Brie today? We gotta leave… I can't find 'er."

"I've been trying to call her all day, Shane… Did you guys fight again?"

"No, hell, I thought everythang was fine." Shane said as he began to realize that the world was about to end possibly, they weren't together and he had no idea where she might be. Then it hit him… She'd been distancing from him a little more at a time lately.

He'd been getting closer to Lori, Rick's wife… he'd been trying to help the woman get on her feet again… But then he thought back over everything and it hit him… Whenever Lori needed him, he'd drop any and everything to rush to her.

He'd never done that for Brianne, he'd never once stopped to consider what he was doing to their relationship as a result.

Now, he didn't have to make any decisions, Brianne was obviously done fighting for what they had.

Shane was just now realizing what they had and what he was losing.

His stomach churned bitterly and he told Lori quietly, "I'm on my way to ya. Have Carl ready when I get there.. We gotta go."

"Brianne.. Did you find her?"

"I'm gonna keep lookin. Just be ready to go when I get there."

"I'll try to call her again, Shane."

"I'm gonna try again too."

He dialed Brianne's number again.

Brianne stared at the cell phone in her console. She almost didn't answer, but she knew he'd worry and she didn't want that.

"What do you want, Shane?"

"Baby, where the hell are you?"

"Getting onto the interstate. I'm leaving town, the evacuation, remember?"

"Come back. Go with me."

"Why don't you take the one you really love with you, Shane? Let's be honest for once… I'm an expendable. I'm a toy for you. Whenever Lori snubs you, Shane, you turn to me. See, I thought you'd change. I told myself you loved me, you were just helping her. But I'm done being stupid, Shane. Just go, okay? I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

Before he could try to convince her to come to him, to leave town with him and Lori and Carl, he got a dialtone.

She'd hung up on him. Punching the wheel, he started the drive to Lori Grimes house. His stomach sank and churned when he realized that Brianne's car wasn't sitting in the driveway at Lori's house either.

He couldn't just leave her, damn it… But he had to get Carl and Lori to safety.


	2. Meeting Daryl & Merle

1 Week Later

The smoke boiled from beneath the hood of her Eclipse and Brianne groaned. She'd been trying to find a back way out of Georgia for almost 8 days, she was working on the second week by that point and every one she'd thought of taking was clogged with abandoned cars.

When things went to hell in Georgia, they went to hell in a definite hurry. Communications were gone now, so she couldn't even know for sure that Shane or her sister in law or even her brother Rick and nephew Carl were still alive and well. They'd napalmed Atlanta, Brianne was in some little backwater town about 4 hours away, when it happened, she'd been trying to find a back way out... After she realized that the evacuation thing was a trick to lure people in to their deaths, she'd done what quite a few others in line with her had done and made for the first exit they could find just as the gunfire started in the line ahead.

She'd been roughing it for 8 days now, this was the start of her second week. And apparently, she was going to lose her car. Which was not a good thing. Because without it, she was exposed to possible Walker attack, she happened to be travelling alone and she'd been sleeping in the damn car every night since her failed attempt at getting the hell away from Georgia.

"Fuck. Well this is just great." Brianne grumbled as she sat there for a minute, debating on whether to stay with the car or try and get one of the abandoned ones scattered sporadically on the road around her operational.

She'd just stepped out after popping the hood on her car when the motorcycle made it's way around the bend. She tried to flag down the driver, but the motorcycle kept going. She swore at the back end of the motorcycle as it rode off and disappeared from view and punching the car she looked around.

No walkers in sight… Yet. But they were around, she'd had a close call with a small herd of 3 the day before, barely gotten out of that one alive, thank God for the stiletto in her damn suitcase otherwise she might not have gotten out alive.

She moved to sit back in her car while she tried to come up with her next move but the primer gray truck came around the bend and Brianne decided to try something drastic. She took off the tank top she'd been wearing and began jumping up and down, waving the brightly colored fabric.

The truck backtracked and idled beside her and the driver side window came down. "The fuck are ya doin, woman?"

"I just need a lift to anywhere… I don't care as long as it's the fuck out of here."

"Ain't nowhere safe anymore, woman. Anybody ever tell ya yer not real bright, takin a ride from a stranger?"

" Look, can I get a lift or not? I have no more ammo, my car's shot to shit… Starting to think that I should maybe just turn on my radio and sit here and wait on the fucking things to come and eat me."

Daryl eyed the brunette and then said warily, "Get in. Gonna take ya back to where my brother and me been stayin."

Brianne grabbed the basic necessities and hurried to the truck, getting in on the passenger side. The drive to the little cabin was quiet, kind of awkward. When they got out, the older man, Merle Dixon, called out from the porch, "What the fuck are you thinkin, brother? We ain't got enough food for another mouth. Even if it is a pretty one." as he glared openly at his brother Daryl.

"Yeah, well I wasn't gon leave 'er on the side a the road, either."

"You and yer fuckin conscience boy, weak and fuckin stupid. Get yer asses inside. Got a mess o' fish cookin. If yer gon travel with us, girlie, yer gon earn yer keep. I expect the place ta be cleant and kept up, food to be cooked."

Brianne started to tell the man where to shove his 1950's barefoot and pregnant mentality but then she remembered her current predicament… and these two men were the first people she'd seen alive in literally 8 days.. Frankly, by now, she was just happy she'd managed to survive this damn long and that she wasn't the only one who'd apparently survived and managed to avoid the parts of Georgia that had been napalmed and gunned down or were being patrolled or were heavily riddled with Walkers.

Safety was in numbers and if she stuck this out wiith these two men, she was one hell of a lot safer than she'd be if she were going it alone.

Instead of the rant she wanted to give the man, she simply nodded her head. To get along she was going to have to go along apparently.

The older man eyed her, he almost seemed to sense that she wanted to go off on him, so it clearly surprised him when she didn't.

"Smart girl. Yer gon start tomorrow. Got clothes that need washin."

"Merle, don't be a god damn asshole."

"Daryl, if yer gon bring home every damn stray ya find, we're gon have some damn form o' rules round this place."

"Yer not the fuckin leader." Daryl glared at his brother. He was now officially wishing he had not picked up the curvy brunette hitch hiker. Merle was clearly going to be an asshole. It shouldn't surprise him, really.

Merle grabbed himself a beer and then said calmly, "We're gon have to move on pretty quick though. Saw some walkers down by that crick behind here. Another few days they're gon be right up in this damn cabin with us."

"Has anyone heard of anywhere that's left safe?" Brianne asked. Both men looked at her as if she'd lost her mind and Merle began to laugh. Then he looked at her and said "Oh.. Sugar titties is serious."

"There ain't nowhere safe no more, girl… or have ya been hidin under a damn rock?" Merle asked a few seconds later as Daryl glared at his brother and then said calmly, "There was supposed ta be some survivor camp at a quarry outta town about two hours. Reckon we'll wind up makin our way there."

"Sooner or later, brother." Merle answered dismissively as he pointed out, "Ain't raided all the real estate in that little town a few minutes from here yet. Don't wanna miss the good shit."

Daryl grumbled and then said to Brianne, "There's a loft ya kin sleep in." as he started to walk towards the woods. This left Brianne alone with Merle. Merle eyed the girl and then assessed in a bored tone, "He musta been sweet on ya, sugar titties. I seen him pass up about 3 other hitch hikers one time… was before all this shit started, but still. My little brother don't bring home strays. Best not make 'im regret it, either."

"You do realize you're an asshole, right?"

"And she speaks."

"And my name is not sugar titties. Or hon. Or baby. It's Brianne Grimes."

"Merle Dixon. The grumpy asshole that brought ya out here, he's my brother Daryl. I wouldn't go getting too attached though. He ain't real fond of people, sugar titties. Now me on the other hand.."

"I'm going inside. Keep your distance. We clear? I'll cook and clean shit up, Merle Dixon but I'll die a thousand slow and painful deaths before I ever even think about getting into bed with you."

"But you ain't ruled it out with my brother, have ya?"

"Fuck you, Merle." Brianne answered as she vanished into the house, climbed into the loft over the living room below and tried to get herself a little sleep.

Tomorrow she'd start planning her next move.

She was beginning to question the sanity in her decision in taking the ride with Daryl earlier. How was she going to stick around the two without slitting Merle's throat in his sleep?

She'd only thought Shane could be a pig sometimes… Merle was a genuine asshole. And it didn't seem to bother him at all.

"Whoever winds up with that man is getting a real piece of work, let me tell ya." Brianne grumbled as she rolled over in the bed and shoved her head beneath a pillow, tried to force herself to get sleep.

She was going to have to, just in case she decided she couldn't take it and she needed to leave this place in a hurry. Because she'd only been here ten minutes and already, she was ready to choke Merle Dixon out.

 _But you're alive… And you're not trapped spending the apocalypse watching your fiancee chasing your sister in law's ass. Those are the important things, right?_ Her brain insisted that over and over.

Maybe if she said it enough through all this, she'd begin to believe it. She was better off without Shane Walsh.

* * *

 **Story is set BEFORE days gone bye.. It's sort of a precursor to the Dixon brothers winding up at quarry camp. I'm sort of giving them their own timeline pre Walking Dead and tweaking events in the series. Yes, my OC was almost going to marry Shane and yes, she's Rick's little sister. No, she's not going to be paired with Merle. She'll be paired with Daryl. I cannot wait to write the scenes for her showing up at quarry camp with Shane but there are still at least two more ones I want to write before that ever happens..**

 **I apologize if anyone is OOC. I'm really trying.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Tension & Worry

4 Days Later

* * *

The scent of food was probably what drew him out of his bed. With a brow raised, he sat up and stretched. Merle never cooked this early. He never even rolled over this early, to be perfectly honest. He'd hunted the night before, so normally, he wouldn't wake up until later in the morning.

The sun was barely rising, for God's sake.

Daryl slid off the couch and slipped the green thermal shirt on, made his way into the kitchen, all the while grumbling to himself about how he hoped the 'princess' he picked up on his way back from the supply restock a few days before had been 'comfortable' in his damned bed.

She was humming and sliding around the kitchen… In this little blinding hot pink thing that truth be told was kind of sheer. The pink silk robe she had on over it wasn't much more opaque either. It hit about just above mid thigh and it sort of showcased legs that looked like they belonged on some ballerina or something; they didn't seem to quit.

From behind him, Merle chuckled and nodding to the kitchen he mused quietly to his brother, "I think I kin get used ta this, brother. You mighta done us a good thang, bringin 'er back earlier in the week."

"Asshole." Daryl grumbled, eying his brother as he said firmly, "Bought 'er back for safety. Not fer ya to try n nail 'er. We clear? Attachments, Merle… Remember the rule about that kinda thang?"

"I ain't the one who's standin 'ere gapin like an ass at her now am I? I seen strippers with a better figure 'n hers." Merle shrugged it off, smirking as he added to his brother, "But it's always fun, brother, getting yer goat."

"Fuck you." Daryl snapped, clearing his throat as he spoke up to the leggy brunette who was using the little 2 eye gas camp cooker to make breakfast currently, "Don't ya own any actual fuckin clothes, woman?"

Brianne froze in her tracks and Merle started to howl with laughter. If it weren't obvious before that his brother had something stuck up his craw about the petite brunette, it was kind of blatantly obvious now.

"I thought you two were gone and coming back…" Brianne muttered, her skin heating up under the very steady and intense; slightly angry gaze of Daryl Dixon. She tied the robe shut and dragged her fingers through long and thick dark brown hair, looking back and forth at the two men. After a cough and a very long and awkward pause in which she realized that his eyes weren't just this deep forest green color, they had hints of brown in them too, she finally managed to mutter quietly, "I, umm… There's pancakes."

She hastily retreated to the bathroom of the small cabin, the door echoing as it banged shut behind her.

"Done scart 'er, brother." Merle took a bite of the pancakes and groaned as the food hit his mouth. "Kinda surprised. Didn't think sugar titties was gon be able ta actually cook."

Daryl glared at Merle and then took a stack of the remaining pancakes for himself. He groaned when the food hit his mouth and then shrugged quickly, pretending as if the knowledge that the third in their little 'group' could cook wasn't actually a big deal… Truth told, his mind went back to their mother… Before she got heavily dependent on the alcohol kept at the ready in the Dixon house just to escape the pain of their abusive father and her abusive husband.

The pancakes he was eating now tasted similar to the pancakes his mother made before everything went to hell in the house even worse than it had been all along. It must have made Merle think the same because he coughed and then said quietly, "Gon head out now. Got a lot of shit to do today."

"Me too." Daryl muttered after he finished shoveling down the food on the plate, throwing it into the garbage can.

He walked to the bathroom door, knocked and called out through the other side, "Gon go fishin."

Brianne opened the door a crack and peered out at Daryl. "And I'll be here… Hey, if we need gas for the generator.. My car had a full tank when it went to shit… And I had a gas jug in the back."

"I'll, umm.. I'll talk ta Merle about it later." Daryl coughed, the memory of the little pink thing she'd been wearing when he woke up and walked into the kitchen was pretty much burned into his eyes and his mind.

He was going to have to find the coldest creek water around to get rid of the affects. And even that probably was not going to work, either. He swore to himself as he hurried off in the direction of the nearby creek.

He was seriously beginning to wonder about bringing the woman back to the cabin he and Merle had commandeered for the duration, however long that might be… Because she was playing hell on his mind, being around like she was.

* * *

The truck rolled into camp and like usual, Shane asked the driver the same question he'd been asking everyone who found the signs he'd put up leading people to the quarry they'd turned into a campground.

He took the picture of Brianne out of his wallet and asked the guy driving, a Dale Horvath, "Have you seen this girl? She's my fiancee and we got seperated durin the evacuation. She woulda been drivin a black Eclipse, one of those cars with the sunroof. Had a pink monogram sticker in the back glass… Please tell me you seen 'er."

"Haven't seen her, sir… But I passed that car about 2 or three hours back, on the side of the road.. Nobody was in it." Dale eyed the man with a sympathetic look and then said quietly, "I can take you to it… When I get my rig settled."

"Thank ya sir." Shane told the man, though his stomach sank worse than ever before, -worse than the pregnancy scare he and Brianne had about a year ago when he told her he didn't want kids and she walked out for almost 2 months- and he just got this feeling… If Brianne hadn't been with her car when Dale Horvath passed it on the way into their quarry campground, then Brianne just might not be alive anymore.

Lori rubbed his shoulders from behind as she asked quietly, "Well? Anything?"

"That guy, he umm… He saw her car on the way into here."

"She wasn't with her car?"

"Not goin by what Mr. Horvath said, Lori." Shane took a few deep breaths, swinging and punching the hood of his Bronco.

Dale Horvath walked over and Lori asked him, "When you passed my sister in law's car… There weren't any… you know.."

"There weren't any walkers. Got out and looked inside, didn't look like there had been any kind of struggle, either. But the hood was popped, so maybe she had car trouble and got a ride?"

"So she might still be alive?"

"Possibly. If she is, she'll turn up." Dale tried to encourage the dark haired woman as Lori explained, "My husband, he's in a coma right now… If he were to wake up and find out that his younger sister was out there, lost or bit… It would kill him."

"That young man I spoke to when I pulled in here seemed pretty shaken up about it himself."

"They'd had a big fight that day. It wasn't unusual for them." Lori set the record straight quickly.

Dale eyed the brunette a moment and then said "I promised that man I'd take him back to the car." as he set off to find Shane Walsh again. The two of them set off for the place that Dale had seen Brianne's car last….

Lori prayed to herself silently, they had to have gotten Rick out of the hospital nearby safely. They'd promised. He had to be alive. Every wrong thing she'd ever fought with him about before was coming back now to haunt her. Shane was supposed to go by the hospital, see if he could get inside the building and try to see if Rick had made it out when the helicopters were evacuating the patients who remained in CCU, ICU or the trauma facilities to safety.

Rick couldn't be dead.

She didn't know how she'd go on if he were dead.

* * *

Shane and Dale stood in the middle of the road where Dale claimed to have seen Brianne's car. It was gone now, not even a sign it had been there.

"And yer sure ya saw it."

"I'm sure."

"Maybe she fixed it."

"Or maybe somebody come through and stole it." Shane replied grimly, shaking off the further churning of his stomach. He didn't want to think about how badly he messed up, how their last 'non fight' drove her to finally walk away and possibly straight into danger.

"Grass ain't always greener on the other side of the fence." he mumbled to himself through a tightly set jaw as he got back into his Bronco with Dale and the one or two others who'd come along, heading towards the hospital.

After what he'd just discovered here, he suddenly wasn't optimistic about what he'd find out at the hospital.

* * *

 **Story is starting BEFORE days gone bye.. It's sort of a precursor to the Dixon brothers winding up at quarry camp. I'm sort of giving them their own timeline pre Walking Dead and tweaking events in the series. Yes, my OC was almost going to marry Shane and yes, she's Rick's little sister. No, she's not going to be paired with Merle. She'll be paired with Daryl. I cannot wait to write the scenes for her showing up at quarry camp with Shane but there are still at least two more ones I want to write before that ever happens..**

 **Oh wow, I have a reviewer! And 4 favorites & 7 followers! I'm so thrilled right now you have no idea.**

 **Obviously, this chapter was sort of a mixed bag for me... On the one hand, got to put in a bit of Daryl's past and hint that maybe things weren't always bad (sorry, I just really really love Daryl and I wanted him to have a few small happy memories, maybe things went to shit when he got much older, right before his mother finally died, not to mention, he seems to only remember his father in the worst way possible, he never really thinks of his mother so...) and play on developing sexual tension between Brianne and Daryl... But on the other, I had to sort of delve into how Lori and Shane are dealing (aside from the sleeping with each other thing and yes, that will be coming into play, trust me, cannot have the majority of my story without all that drama) and sort of gradually bring in more members of the finalized quarry campground group.**

 **I'm thinking that Dale and Shane started out 'okay' with each other,however, maybe Dale caught onto Shane's coveting thy friends wife ways and this quickly sort of made him wary of Shane and his intent, thus leading up to what lies ahead in the next season..**

 **I'm just having fun going back and then moving forward, to be honest. Not a lot is known about events before day 60+. This is me taking a stab at the dark and seeing what I come up with and how it'll affect the future of the series.**


	4. Tension Of a Different Kind

Later That Night

"Who the hell taught ya to shoot, sugar titties, cause that ain't even remotely close." Merle judged the distance of the arrow from the bale of hay as Daryl called out, "Yer standin all wrong to begin with, woman."

"I'm used to guns, mind you, not damn bow and arrow."

"Go on and shoot that damn gun then. See how fast ya kin get dead doin it." Daryl retorted, a dry smirk on his face as he motioned for the bow and arrow that Brianne insisted on grabbing, 'just in case', before they'd finished their usual raid of the shops in town.

"I have to learn how to do this."

"And iff'n yer gon hand it to me, woman.." Daryl commanded firmly, taking the bow and arrow after she reluctantly handed it over.

"It's pointless, brother. She might as well stick ta bashin their heads in with that bat like earlier.. Helluva swing, sugar titties. Never woulda imagined somethin so little would be so filled with rage." Merle taunted, sneering at Brianne when she flipped him off.

Daryl positioned himself behind Brianne, putting the bow and arrow into her hands. His rough fingers made their way up her arms and he then pulled her arms and shoulders into a better stance for shooting. Brianne's teeth bit at her lower lip as she fought the urge to shiver underneath the rough fingers as they slowly danced up her bare arms.

It didn't help that the man looked exactly like he stepped off the cover of one of her favorite late night reads, an erotic thriller called Sultry Vice, or that he happened to act similar to it's leading man, Nickolas Roman.

All Daryl Dixon was missing was the motorcycle and a few tattoos. He was everything she tended to avoid getting mixed up with prior to the outbreak. And now, she was in confined quarters with the man.

And yes, she might or might not have been having very racy dreams about him on occasion. She'd die before admitting it, but… She had.

His breath was warm against her bare neck as he said quietly, "Focus."

"I'm focusing."

"Now, let 'er go." Daryl said as he stepped back, not wanting to get hit by the drawback action that was going to happen when Brianne had to pull the bowstring back. She'd wanted one like his but he'd laughed his ass off and handed her a more primitive one.

Told her she'd do more damage to herself and everything in sight with the one like his, if she even had the upper arm strength to handle loading it and pulling the damn bowstring.

She'd pouted, of course and he got this feeling… She did that a lot before the world went to shit.

The arrow flew from the bow and landed in a small tree next to the bale of hay.

"Not too bad. Ya weren't focusin though." Daryl taunted her, a smirk on his face that made his eyes kind of dance, Brianne noticed it when he looked at her. She bit back the urge to say that maybe if he hadn't distracted her, because everything about the damn man was a walking distraction, she'd be dumb not to notice that.. Instead, she nodded and loaded another arrow into the bow, trying again.

This one hit a little higher up on the same damn tree. But she'd still been distracted. Daryl shook his head and then said "Enough fer one night. Gonna waste all yer damn arrows."

"I wasn't that bad."

"Ya weren't that good, either, woman." Daryl chuckled as he said with a shrug, "Maybe you ought to stick with the bat."

"I did have one hell of a swing."

"I reckon, yeah." Daryl coughed a little. They were doing the thing again, they seemed to just sort of drift closer together lately, if they were near each other. Which he knew by default was a very dangerous and dumb move on his part.

Attachments were not a good thing to have or to form. Because anybody or anything could be taken… She could get bit and he'd have to put her down.

His mind argued with him, _'Like you'd let that happen. You barely let Merle anywhere near 'er. And earlier today, you defended her without hesitation. It's too late, man, yer attached now and yer fucked because of it.'_ but he stubbornly refused to acknowledge that fact.

Their bodies brushed and they sprang away from each other, Daryl grumbling and coughing, making a hasty retreat into the cabin, Brianne coughing and picking up the cheap bottle of wine she'd stolen on their raid earlier, practically shotgunning it.

Nothing with Shane had ever felt this simple…

* * *

Back at the quarry, Shane's Bronco pulled to a stop and everyone else got out but him. Lori had been pacing, waiting, worried. She rushed him when he finally got out and the look on his face had her bursting into tears in his arms.

"No sign of 'er."

"And Rick?"

"We need to talk inside of the tent, Lori." Shane mumbled quietly, visibly flinching. He looked shellshocked. But then again, he'd just lost his best friend and former partner, his fiancee that he now realized that he loved more than he'd known before was gone, vanished without a trace…. He figured anybody would be shellshocked if they had the kind of day he'd had today.

"He's..."

"They never got 'im on the helicopter, Lori… When the generator stopped workin, he must've just slipped on out… I checked for a pulse, I did everything I could… He's gone, Lori."

"It's really just the two of us and Carl now." Lori mumbled, her own voice coming out small and quiet, her face paling as the tears continued to stream down her face. Shane hugged her even tighter and then said quietly, "We really are all we got now."

"I'm sorry… About Brianne."

"I'm sorry I ain't comin back with good news about Rick." Shane consoled Lori. They went into their tent to talk to Carl about it and Carl fell completely apart. That night, once they finally got him calm again, Lori stopped Shane as he'd been about to leave her tent to go to his Bronco, which he'd been sleeping in.

"Neither of us are going to sleep… And neither of us are in the shape to be alone… Do you want to stay tonight?"

"I can… I just ain't gon be much company, Lori." Shane said quietly as he turned and walked back into her tent, zipping it shut behind him. He was now getting everything he'd have willingly killed for before the outbreak… the problem was, he was not sure if it was even what he truly wanted anymore.

But he didn't want to be alone, either.

* * *

Inside the little cabin, Brianne couldn't sleep. It was too damn hot in the loft for one thing, for another, the images in her mind, the way his fingers felt as they'd danced up her arm earlier, those were doing a damn good job at keeping her up at night. She quietly climbed down from the loft and made her way down into the living area of the cabin. She heard the soft hum of the refilled generator and hard rock music playing from the room Merle had taken as his own.

As she got closer to the front of the cabin, where Daryl slept on the couch, she heard him snoring loudly. She had to pause for a few seconds to stop the laughter from coming. She made her way over to the couch. He'd wound up tossing the plaid blanket from her car off during the night.

She picked it up, draped it back over his sleeping form and went to sit in an ancient leather recliner near the window of the cabin, just sitting there in the darkness, thinking. She made a sour face when she thought about Shane.

The asshole probably hadn't even given her a second thought after their 'passive' argument on the phone the last time, he'd probably just went straight to Lori and Carl, not even concerned with the well being of the woman he claimed to love enough to be wanting to marry.

"Fuck you, Shane Walsh. I'm better off without you." she muttered to herself quietly, not realizing that Daryl had sort of woken up and heard her talking to herself in the darkness. Daryl lie there wondering who in the hell Shane Walsh was and why in the hell the thought of a possible other man and his most likely having hurt Brianne got under his skin so quickly, making him as angry and as jealous as he felt lying there.

He rolled over, trying not to be so aware of the leggy brunette being in the room with him.

But truthfully, he'd been having some kind of sexual dream about her.

"I just hope they got to my brother Rick and got him the hell out of Georgia before all this stuff happened." Brianne muttered to herself, her fingers trailing over the windowpane she sat beside as she peered out into the bright and moonlit night.

If she never saw Shane again, she could honestly live with that at this point.. Or so she told herself… But she just prayed that her brother Rick was okay, that he'd been taken to another medical facility and he was being taken care of… because when they were younger, he'd taken care of her.. And after he'd been shot, she'd been at the hospital nearly every single day that passed, trying to do the same for him.

God knew, Lori scarcely went. She said she 'couldn't handle' seeing Rick lying there, hooked to machines that breathed for him, that kept him alive.

Brianne couldn't either, damn it, but she hadn't fucking abandoned him.

Maybe if she talked to the Dixon brothers about going to the hospital where her brother was… She just had to know if he was okay… She'd ask them in the morning. The hospital actually wasn't that far from them… It wasn't close, but it was near plenty of places for Merle to raid to keep him busy and out of her hair.

"I don't care what happens next… If you're listening, God.. Please let my brother Rick be alive and okay, somewhere safe. Please let him find happiness." Brianne mumbled to herself before standing, going into the kitchen of the cabin and pouring herself a generous helping of the cheap bottle of wine, drinking it down quickly.

Daryl spoke up from behind her… "Just now… This Rick guy… He family?"

"He's my older brother… He was the one who basically took care of me, protected me from shit, kept me 'hidden under a rock' to quote Merle… he was a cop and he got shot before all this shit… Slipped into a coma."

"Oh.. And the guy, Shane."

"You heard me? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I wasn't sleepin." Daryl stepped around her to take a beer from his brother's cooler sitting on the floor of the kitchen. He popped the top and then Brianne said quietly, "We were gonna get married.. But he.. I'd rather not talk about it, it was my mistake… All 3 times. I mean you'd think I'd learn he just didn't love me like I loved him when I told him I was pregnant and his response was to leave, go get drunk off his ass and then fall asleep on my brother's couch that night. I never should've went back after that.."

Daryl eyed her, brow raised, sipping the beer in his hand.

"Anyway, jerk wound up getting what he wanted because I miscarried about a week later." Brianne added in an almost whisper like voice, not bothering to meet Daryl's eyes, instead, focusing intently on refilling her glass with wine and then drinking it.

"Sorry."

"I'm fine. Wasn't meant to happen or it would've worked out. You just spend so much time putting someone on a pedestal, ya know, that when they start to slip off… You tell yourself that it's gotta be you… This happening, it's kind of shown me… It was Shane, not me."

"So yer done with the guy, huh?"

"If he's even still alive. I bet he didn't wait one god damn night before hopping into my sister in law's bed. Wouldn't surprise me at all." Brianne said quietly, her eyes finally meeting Daryl's. She faked a yawn and made a very hasty retreat after that and Daryl stood there, sipping his beer, trying to figure out why he felt both happy and wanting to kill this guy, this Shane person.

He quickly shoved the thoughts out of his head.

Attachments were a very dangerous thing.

And he was walking that very fine line now, with Brianne.

* * *

Omg, thanks so much for reviewing and following and favoriting this story. I was kind of afraid to submit it at first because there are so many better Daryl x OC things already on the site. But with you guys encouragement, I gift you with another chapter. The way I'm doing things until they're all finally together at the quarry camp is things are seperated with page breaks. There's more sexual tension and an actual conversation / kinda hot moment with Daryl and Brianne. There's Brianne beginning to realize now that she's had time away from Shane that maybe he wasn't it for her and that he possibly never really loved her; not like she wanted at least. Shane tells Lori about Rick being dead here. I know it happened the day before Rick showed up alive, here it's happening much earlier. Here it's happening at about day 50+.

So they aren't all together yet, big things have to happen before that (insert evil laughter here) but they're getting closer. Aren't you excited? As I mentioned before, I cannot wait to write the official scene where Brianne shows up at camp with the Dixons. It'll probably give a nice solid reason as to why the Dixons (especially Daryl) seem to dislike Shane from the get go. I know it didn't really show that much on the tv series, but I'm thinking that they most likely went together like oil and water, just given Shane's line about Merle.

Let's see how this little added twist works for that whole dynamic, shall we?

Anyway, thanks so much for the review, the 5 favorites and the 8 follows. I pray to God I don't let you guys down andthat things are mostly IC even though this is obviously an AU/OOC fanfic.


	5. Breaking Down Inside

TWO DAYS LATER

Daryl and Merle were restocking needed supplies. Brianne had gotten them to drop her off at the hospital. Brianne approached the building with shaking legs and hands, a machete strapped to her leg and the Bowie knife Merle thrust at her before practically throwing her out of the truck in his hurry to get away.

There weren't any walkers in sight, but that luck didn't hold out as she approached the floor Rick was on in the hospital. Just as she rounded the corner of the hospital, a 2 walker herd spotted her.

"Fuck."

She swung the bat, bashing one of them in the head until it's brains were splashed onto the wall in the hallway, then she jammed the knife into the other one's head and ran like hell. She had her spare knives left now, and Merle's Bowie.

She was standing outside Rick's room. She pushed the stretcher in front of the door out of the way, then she shoved the door open, the bedside table that had been placed in front of the other side of the door went sliding across the room.

Rick lie there, not moving, not breathing. She checked for a pulse, there was none that she could feel.

The tears came quickly, choking her. She'd never pictured losing her older brother. She went to sit on the edge of his bed, brushing his hair back out of his face. "Rick..." and that was all she could say, the tears were choking her again. She just curled into the bed with her older brother, like she used to do when she was a kid and the bad weather or their dad getting angry and raising hell scared her.

XoX

 _The door opens slowly. Rick Grimes, 12 years old, turns over in bed and finds his 4 year old sister propped on the edge of it, big bluish green eyes focused on him. The storm picked up to a fever pitch earlier, it continued on and he sighed, moving over, patting the bed. "C'mon up, princess. We'll read my new comic." he told the little girl as he pulled her up onto the bed with him. He started to read the comic, fluffing Brianne's hair as he did so, and by the fourth page, his little sister was snoring lightly. He turned back on his flashlight and went back to reading the comic on his own quietly. She slept better on nights like this, when the weather was bad and scary, when he just let her lay there in the room with him._

 _He was her big brother; he was supposed to protect her from **everything**._

 _XoX_

"You weren't supposed to die, damn it, you big idiot. You didn't even get to walk me down the aisle at my wedding… You didn't get to see any nieces or nephews you might have had one day..."

She thought she felt a movement as her tears dropped down from her eyes and onto her brother's hospital gown but she put it off to wishful thinking. He hadn't had a pulse; she'd checked for one upon entering the room, before it hit her that he was dead, the nightmare she was living in right now was **more real than ever** to her.

The one thing she had left to be hopeful for; her brother being alive and well somewhere else, that was gone now, taken from her.

"If I can get the two guys I'm traveling with to come back with me, Rick… I'll take you somewhere… I'll take you back to Grandpa's cabin… We're gonna have to leave Georgia soon, Merle said things are tapped out here."

She heard a horn blowing outside. Merle told her she had exactly thirty minutes to get in, say her piece and get out. He also told her while Daryl had been gone on a hunt earlier that the only reason she was even getting that was because of Daryl.

Had it been up to him; they wouldn't be making sentimental moves like this.

"I have to go, Rick. But I promise you… Somehow, I'll come back. I'll get you to somewhere you'd want to be put to rest at." Brianne mumbled quietly as she leaned over, pressing her lips to her brother's forehead.

She slipped off the locket she always wore, the one he'd gotten her for Christmas when she was 13, and she took his hand, placing it inside, curling his hand around the locket. "I love you, big brother."

She jammed her hands into her eyes, rubbing them. She knew it would probably be obvious she'd been crying, she didn't really care at the moment. She moved the sofa in front of the door and went out the window, pulling it closed as best as she could behind her.

She ran to the truck right as Merle nudged Daryl.

"Don't reckon it went so well.." Merle mused as Daryl swore to himself quietly and revved the truck up. Merle got out, letting the brunette slide into the middle seat.

"Did they get 'im out?"

"I'm not in the mood to talk, okay?" Brianne said quietly. Her voice was smaller, softer. She stared out the windshield all the way back to the cabin and when they got to the cabin, she went straight up to the loft and fell onto the pile of mattresses on the floor, shoving her head underneath the pillow.

She officially had no hope left.

The last thing she'd been hoping for; the safety of her older brother, that was a shattered illusion now.

Merle sipped a beer quietly, watching Daryl as he sat on the couch smoking a cigarette. "We shouldnt'a took 'er. I was right, brother."

"She needed to see it. Needed to see how bad things kin get. How real this all is. At least she got to say goodbye." Daryl mumbled, shrugging despite the fact that his mind was going back to losing their mother when he was much smaller.

What surprised Daryl was when she came down the ladder from the loft about 3 hours later when Merle went for his night hunt and she went into the kitchen, started to flour and season the rabbit that he'd killed, skinned and gutted then cut up to cook earlier.

"You okay?" he asked as he leaned against the counter, watching her as if she were a ticking time bomb set to detonate at any second. Daryl had no idea what to do with a female who did what he did and shut down.

He knew she'd been up there crying. But she was trying to force herself to hold it all in, to seem tougher than he knew she was. He could look at her and tell it was killing her. The odd thing in all this was that it was bothering him, seeing her shut down like she was obviously doing.

Brianne took a deep breath, tried to push down the raw pain and bitterness and fear she felt. She got it now; there wasn't any room left for those things in this world. If she went all emotional, she'd wind up doing something stupid and dying a messy death.

It wasn't something she wanted to do.

"I'm..." Brianne started, only to find herself turning, leaning against Daryl, sobbing, lightly hitting at his chest as she did so. "It had to be him. My brother had to die. He was a good guy, he was a better person than me… He was all I had left, I..." she choked out. Daryl remained stiff and eyed her cautiously as she poured out the tears, admitted that her father occasionally had these anger episodes and that Rick, he'd taken care of her during those.. he'd also kept her straight, he'd protected her from pretty much everything. The gist of it was her admitting that no, she didn't think she'd make it through the darkness ahead if she knew that she wasn't going to get to find out her brother was alive and safe.

Around the time Merle was walking back through the cabin doors, Daryl had only slightly relaxed in the 'embrace' she had him in, he'd even sort of been smoothing his hand over her hair, staying quiet, letting her get it all out.

Merle coughed from the doorway but Daryl's angry and irritated gaze kept him quiet for once.

As soon as Daryl relaxed and his hand started to move slowly through her long and thick dark hair, Brianne started to take a few deep breaths, she felt a little calmer. It wasn't like the times Shane 'tried' to comfort her or something after they'd fight, this was totally different.

He wasn't trying to talk to her, he wasn't trying to cut off anything she felt like she needed to say. Shane always did that. It was like how she felt wasn't important. Daryl was just standing there, letting her soak his t shirt with her mascara and tears, letting her say everything she felt currently about her brother being trapped in that hospital, about his having died because the machines quit when the generator did too.

Merle spoke up and nodded to the floured rabbit that was going to be rabbit hash. "Get 'er outta here, I'll get all o' this." he grumbled, his tone gruff as he nodded to the door.

Daryl and Brianne walked outside, Brianne sat down on the porch. All she did was sit there and take a few deep breaths before standing and telling Daryl sheepishly, "I'm sorry… I probably ruined your shirt.. And made things really awkward… I think I'm just going to go up to the loft or something."

" 's not a big deal. Just a damn shirt."

"Yeah, well, I shouldn't have lost it like that. I lose it like that I'm weak and I'll wind up bit.. Or getting one of you hurt trying to keep my stupid ass from getting bit. I'll be fine, I just… I have to adjust." Brianne said as bravely as she could before quickly retreating into the cabin, going back up into the loft.

* * *

Rick came to about 7 and a half hours later. Immediately, he sensed something was wrong when he didn't hear the constant hum of machines in the room… In fact, he heard almost nothing. The sun was just starting to rise, shielding his eyes from it, he managed to get out of the hospital bed.

Something was in his hand. He opened it, he found the locket he'd given his younger sister Brianne was what he'd been holding. Had Brianne been here? He found himself worrying, he knew she'd been here a lot while he'd been out… He knew Shane had come a lot also.. Lori hadn't as much but he knew how hard it must have been for Lori to see him like this.

He tried to figure out how long he'd been out… When he couldn't, he decided to peek out in the hallway, maybe he'd find a nurse who could tell him… He raised a brow at the sofa pushed in front of the door and after moving it, he stepped into the hallway.

There was this eerie tomblike silence assaulting him at every angle. Hospitals were not supposed to be this quiet.

He turned a corner and came in contact with an obviously badly decayed corpse. He remembered hearing gunshots at some point, he'd put it off to dreaming of the day he'd been shot.

Had those gunshots been real? What the hell had happened at the hospital?

He made his way out of the hospital and into the early morning sunrise….

* * *

Omg, thanks so much for reviewing - all four of you, oh my god, so happy right now! - and following (12) and favoriting (9) this story. I was kind of afraid to submit it at first because there are so many better Daryl x OC things already on the site. But with you guys encouragement, I gift you with another chapter. Okay, so this one being angsty and sad, maybe not so much a gift. But it was a pivotal moment for Brianne.

Also a pivotal moment for Daryl and Brianne to potentially bond a little. There's also a flashback in there. Again, I apologize for the screwy as fuck timeline. We're going to say that this happening, Rick waking up, takes place on day 53+. And from there, he'll spend day 54+ to 59+ with Morgan and Duane Jones, they're teaching him how to survive, catching him up and making sure he's healed.. you know the drill. The timeline prior to the show's beginning always kinda bugged me, if you haven't guessed by now.

I'm sort of mixing comic Rick Grimes with TV Rick Grimes too as far as history and stuff. Comic Rick's father was sort of a hardass but wasn't a bad guy, that's given a little hint of in this chapter with the things Brianne says, thinks about, etc. Anyway, hope it's not annoying.

So, angst and a moment with Daryl and Brianne, a brief glimpse of Merle not being a salty old asshole and here.. You have another chapter. I hope you guys like it, I really am trying, I'm not the best writer in the world.


	6. Over It

THREE DAYS LATER

She'd been sleeping, and pretty soundly too, when she felt someone tapping, poking her awake. She swatted at the hand and rolled over in the bed, shoving her head beneath the pillow.

And was promptly covered with cold water.

Brianne shot up in the bed swearing and saw Merle standing over her with the pail, a smirk on his face. "What? What the hell is it?" she grumbled, Merle remarked quietly, "We're gon have ta get the fuck out of Dodge. Get yer ass up woman."

"Okay, alright, shit."

"You wake 'er up, Merle?" Daryl called up to the loft. He'd told his brother to wake Brianne up. He knew that Merle was completely against having a third member to their group, or he had been a few weeks ago when Daryl first bought her back to the cabin, that being said, he wasn't sure he trusted Merle to do so.

"Grab a weapon, princess. We got company. Merle, hurry yer ass up, I'm almost outta fuckin arrows." Daryl snapped at his brother. Up in the loft, Merle was descending the ladder, his guns at the ready and Brianne quickly slid on a pair of jeans, her favorite ones, the ones that clung in all the right places, and she quickly grabbed a sports bra, her red and black one, and slid on a pair of boots.

She came down, bow and arrows ready, baseball bat in her hand, just as the door on the side of the cabin caved and the first of the horde of Walkers from the outside made it's way in. Brianne swung the bat as hard as she could, and she didn't dare stop until Daryl had his spare arrows loaded into his bow. She'd went for her knife and one of the damn things grabbed her hair, was trying to pull her down but Daryl took it out with an arrow to the skull.

Merle was shooting as many as he could get and he yelped at one time, "Outta bullets, brother."

Brianne kicked the knife to him across the floor, he'd tripped, trying to fight off a horde drunk was not something Merle Dixon had been anticipating and the man was swearing and complaining loudly about having to do that very thing, he grabbed the knife and stuck the walker in the skull as many times as he could, standing and managing to make it to his bullets.

One of them was heading straight for Daryl but Brianne swung the bat and kept swinging until the damn walker was on the floor with a badly caved in and decaying skull.

At one point, Merle managed to point out in a huff, "Ya kin thank me later… Fer pourin that water on yer ass to wake ya up. Coulda let them damn thangs come right on in and get ya."

"Thanks." Brianne managed to breathe out as she continued to fight off the one that had come through the back door and been trying to get her into a corner, she'd already tripped and was having to resort to scooting backwards and to the knives on the counter on her ass.

She managed to grab the knife as Merle skidded it back to her just as he shot one of the other ones closing in on her and Daryl shot at it with an arrow. She plunged the knife into the walker's skull and then kicked it in firmly, the effect was like someone driving a railroad spike through a piece of badly rotted wood, the walker's head caved in.

Once she'd stood she grabbed her powder pink Glock and emptied two into it's skull.

"She just might learn how ta stay alive yet." Merle mused as the three of them began to drag the walkers out into the backyard, starting a pile, lighting them on fire.

"We're gon have to leave. It ain't smart, stayin here." Daryl said after a few minutes. Merle nodded and said "Sooner we cut out, quicker we get this damn drive to that quarry over with. We kin figure out what ta do from there."

"So let's grab our shit n' go, brother."

Brianne nodded quietly. She was too exhausted to argue about waiting a few hours. Although she'd really rather not go to this quarry camp, she realized that there were some good points to it.

She grabbed all the things she'd bought with her and threw them into the back of Daryl's truck after Merle and Daryl had. She got into the truck between them and the drive to the quarry campground began.

* * *

The two tone truck made it's way into the campground and normally, Shane would've been right there, picture out, waiting to ask the driver of the truck if they'd seen Brianne… But he wasn't that day, he was down at the quarry pond with Lori and Carl.

So Dale Horvath wandered over as the truck parked.

The two men got out, arguing, carrying on loudly, and then the third person got out… The woman from Shane's picture. Dale gaped for a moment, watching the three coverse with each other.

He picked up on definite chemistry between the man with the crossbow over his left shoulder and the girl from Officer Walsh's picture.

"I'm telling you, boys… All I want is a looooong soak. I still reek of decay and death."

"Helluva wake up, wa'nt it, sugar titties?" Merle joked, Brianne grumbled as she added in a frosty tone, "You really didn't have to dump the entire pail of ice water over my head."

"Iff'n I hadn't, sugar titties, you woulda slept right through all the fun." Merle said as Daryl tossed Brianne's bag to her carefully, then grabbed the bedrolls. They'd stopped on the way in, gotten the sleeper cab off of the back of a similar truck to Daryl's to use as a tent.

"If you try any funny shit, Merle Dixon, I will kick you in the balls." Brianne said as Merle snickered and then said "And iff'n the two of ya are gon do the nasty.. best put somethin on the damn tailgate… Or somethin. Because it's like I keep tellin ya, sugar titties… I seen strippers looked one helluva lot better 'n you. But my brother, on the other.."

"God damn it, Merle stop bein a sumbitch." Daryl gave his brother a firm shove and a warning glare.

Dale had went down to get Shane by then and Shane was coming back up the hill from the bank of the quarry pond. When he heard that laugh, he didn't think, he just broke into a run and within literally 2 seconds, he was standing in front of Brianne.

He pulled her into a hug and kiss and instead of kissing him back, Brianne gave a shove and glared at him. "The fuck do you even think?" Brianne snapped, realizing who it was a few seconds pain and the anger came rushing back; how she knew he probably hadn't even bothered looking more than five minutes for her on the day of the evacuation, instead, he'd driven straight to Lori and Carl. "Shane... you're here." she mumbled, inwardly resisting the urge to just leave right then, get as far away from him as possible.

"Brie, babe.. Yer alive."

"No fucking thanks to you." Brianne snapped, a frosty edge to her voice that Daryl picked up on. His gaze fixed on the other man in a silent challenge. "This is that Shane asshole?" Daryl asked, smirking as he spoke.

"Yeah, that's him."

"This is why ya cried yerself to sleep at night that first few nights?" Daryl asked, studying Shane. He knew what he _wanted_ to do right then, anywhere from the mild, breaking the guy's damn nose for him, to the lots less mild, strangling the asshole until he turned blue. But instead, he played it cool. After all, Brianne wasn't his woman.

His mind however, begged to differ and this rare jealous streak surfaced as the thought crossed his mind, _'She might as well be yer woman. Ya kept her safe, ya ain't treated 'er like this pansy looking fuck obviously has. Ya want her and ya can't hide it. But ya better do a better fuckin job at hidin it, Daryl, because attachments are only gon get ya kilt.'_

Merle eyed the man and then burst into laughter. "Looks like a fuckin pansy ta me, sugar titties." he assessed as his gaze drifted to his brother Daryl. It shocked Merle to see that Daryl, normally the calm one, was clenching and unclenching his fists. Merle found himself thinking that if that wasn't a sign of how his brother really felt, then Merle didn't know how much more obvious a sign could get.

"Who the hell are these assholes?" Shane asked Brianne, returning the challenging glare currently being given to him by the man

She probably should not have lied, or even vaguely hinted that there was chemistry between herself and Daryl, but all the anger and the bitterness she felt at knowing he hadn't bothered trying to find her for any reasonable amount of time beyond five minutes on the day of the evacuation… It bubbled to the surface.

"If it weren't for these **actual fucking men** , Shane Walsh, I most likely wouldn't be alive right now… Because it's not like you gave a damn enough to come looking for me, to find me and make me come with you. What you did that day… It told me everything I need to know. we're done… And hey... I guess maybe you're not the only one who's got a five second bounce back rate."

The words hit their intended mark and Brianne slunk away, Shane gaping after her, Daryl shocked and trying to figure out what the hell she was trying to imply and Merle trying so hard to resist the urge to laugh his ass off at his brother's confusion and the pansy they now knew as the Shane she'd told them both about a few times and his anger at the obvious situation taking place, that he was literally shaking.

"Yer wrong, Brianne." Shane called out to her retreating back.

Brianne stopped her walk, turned to look at Shane and laughed. " Am I?"

" Every time somebody come up, I showed 'em yer picture, asked about ya."

"Oh wow, Shane, you did so much to make sure I was actually okay. I've seen what you can do when you really give a fuck about someone. Every time Lori says jump..." Brianne shook her head and though she tried to hide it, Shane saw the hurt and angry look in her eyes.

"You barely know 'em."

"I know that if it wasn't for both of them, Shane Walsh, I wouldn't be alive right now. I know enough to know that I'd trust them with my life sooner than I would you." Brianne answered quietly, shaking her head as she took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Look, it's hot, I'm covered in ick from the three of us having to fight off a horde of those sons of bitches. I'm going for a swim. Leave me the fuck alone, Shane, we're done." Brianne told Shane as she told Daryl a few seconds later, "And you… Be safe out there, okay? I know you're going straight to the woods. But do not get dead. Okay?"

Daryl raised a brow but answered quietly, "Not gon try to. Yer gon be okay?" a concerned look in his eye as he held Brianne's gaze intently. _Friend my ass. You want it to be more but ya know it cain't be.'_ his mind promptly argued back.

"If he pisses me off I'll just throw a stiletto at him." Brianne managed a smile and a shrug despite the fact that seeing Shane, knowing he hadn't bothered to try and find her, most likely, knowing that she knew for a fact he hadn't come to her and stopped her from leaving without him on the day of the evacuation… It was like ripping the scar off of an old and painful but slowly healing wound. Seeing Shane again, alive and well.. it had been harder than she thought it would but she wasn't falling apart or worse, back into Shane's arms, like she'd feared she would when she'd imagined seeing him again on about the second day they'd been seperated when things hurt the worst...

Dale coughed to himself and eyed the situation. He'd heard at least 90 percent of the argument and personally, the little he did know about Shane Walsh, he felt like the dark haired female had every right to be saying what she said.

Because it wasn't exactly a secret anymore, Lori Grimes and Shane Walsh were sharing a tent, they were a known thing among the group.

Lori caught up to her, stopping her.

"We had to leave. I had to get my son out. None of this is his fault… If you want to hate someone, Brianne, hate me."

"Oh, trust me.. I did. I've hated you for a while now, I mean where the hell do I start? There's how you treat my brother, how you're always relying on and flirting with Shane when we were together, the way you do whatever you have to to make sure you're taken care of, to hell with anyone else, the way you barely went to visit your own damn husband when he was laying in a hospital in a coma...… And I thought that I'd hate you forever but I'm actually kinda over it now. I mean Shane is the one who's got you wrapped around his finger… But one day, Lori, he'll get tired of you too. And Rick's gone, Lori.. Who will you use to clean up your damn messes then, huh? But no. I don't hate you anymore, I'm over it now. I could actually give a flying fuck in space less than to waste the energy... Surviving and staying alive are way more important to me than you and how I feel about you.. So nope, don't hate you."

"But I was the one who kept asking him to come and help me. I shouldn't have."

"No, you shouldn't. But if he really gave a shit about me at all, Lori, he wouldn't have. So congratulations, you won… and you're getting one hell of a prize." Brianne gave a roll of her eyes, slinking past a group of onlookers gaping, going down the hill and out to the quarry pond.

She fell apart as soon as she was alone.

But she was proud of herself. It was over, it was done with, it was all out in the open.. Well, her stance about Shane Walsh was…

The way she felt about a certain grumpy and crossbow wielding badass named Daryl Dixon, however… She just wasn't sure what to do about that situation yet… But she was going to decide as soon as she felt up to the task.

She'd just gotten into the quarry pond when she saw her nephew Carl and a girl around his age coming down, making a beeline straight for her. She hugged her nephew and then said with a smile and kisses all over the boy's face that made him give her a momentary dirty look, "I have missed you, little old man."

"I missed you too… I was scared you were dead too, like dad."

"No, sweetheart, alive and well."

"Who were those men who bought you here?"

"Daryl and Merle Dixon."

"Shane hates 'em."

"Shane hates everybody who won't kiss his ass, sweetheart."

"He said that they were dangerous and you must have lost your mind, grouping with them."

"Let's just swim, okay, kiddo?"

* * *

Omg, thanks so much for reviewing - all five of you, oh my god, so happy right now! - and following (16) and favoriting (12) this story. I was kind of afraid to submit it at first because there are so many better Daryl x OC things already on the site. But with you guys encouragement, I gift you with another chapter.

And here it is... Brianne and the Dixon brothers arrival at the quarry camp. I hope to god that nobody is badly OOC. If they are, I'm sorry. I really am trying. In this chapter, Brianne basically gets to finally say everything that's been on her mind for a while now. I tried to make it as realistic as possible, hopefully it is. This is probably around day 56+. Brianne's sharp tongue and quick temper come out in this chapter too. She pretty much lays all their shit bare, huh? This was a fun chapter for me to write. I hope it's good for you guys reading it. FYI, the Brianne BEFORE the apocalypse was more passive and quiet. She held things in much more than she is here in this chapter, so that's one way the outbreak and everything that's happened since has changed her. I'll try to put in some more flashbacks at certain points so you guys can have a better sense of her BEFORE the world went to shit.

Thanks again for the reviews, the faves and the follows, they encourage me and keep me going. I'm working on another chapter now.


	7. When She's Done

Four Days Later

Shane caught Daryl just as he came back into camp and said casually, "Only damn reason you two are staying is because if you leave, Brianne will go too. And sooner or later, she's gon come back to me… She always comes back."

Daryl eyed him and smirked as he said "You keep thinkin that, Officer. The irony in it is Brianne's been on our asses about movin on as soon as we kin. Don't seem like she's in no real big hurry to come back now, does it? 'Specially if she's tryin to get the hell away from the likes of you."

"She will be though. You done somethin to 'er, she wasn't like this before."

"Maybe, Officer, she got sick o' yer shit. Finally decided to start callin ya out on it instead a' keepin quiet." Daryl shrugged, laughing.

From behind them, Brianne spoke up calmly, "Fuck off, Shane. Shouldn't you be up Lori's ass right now? God knows the woman can't even take a breath on her own. You leave Daryl and Merle alone."

"The two of 'em are bad news, Brianne, and they only keep ya around to do stuff for 'em."

Brianne began laughing at that and she looked at Shane as she put her hand on her hip and shook her head… "You really think a lot of me, huh?"

"Ya do all the stuff ya used ta do fer me, for that asshole now. Kind of not hard to see what's goin on. They keep ya around to take advantage of ya." Shane said quietly as he nodded in Daryl's direction, a pleading look in his eyes as he fixed them on Brianne.

Brianne rolled her eyes and then said calmly, "The irony in this, Daryl… Asshole over there did all the things he's accusing you two of doing." which made Daryl smirk a little as his eyes met Shane's again. Brianne corrected Shane's stupid assumption quickly by informing him, "No, Shane.. You took advantage of the way I felt about you. I do this stuff for Daryl and Merle because I want to. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother."

She turned her attention to Daryl and then asked, "Find that deer you were looking for last night?"

"Nope, I reckon it's done went off somewhere to die. Pisses me off because some deer would be good right now."

"It would. You'll get it sooner or later. You always do." Brianne held out a beer to Daryl, opening the one she was going to drink. Daryl took a long sip after opening the beer Brianne had handed to him and then nodded at Shane and asked, "Gon guess he annoyed the livin hell outta ya all day."

"Actually, he kept his distance until you got back. I got some peace and quiet finally." Brianne admitted as Merle walked over, eyed Shane and said calmly, "That man don't realize just how close he's comin to a kicked ass."

"What the hell did he say to you?"

"Basically, brother, idiot thinks that the second he wins sugar titties here back, he's gonna make us leave camp." Merle gave a laugh and a roll of his eyes, glaring at Shane who was across the camp from them, watching like he always seemed to.

"Seriously? He said that?" Brianne grumbled as she glared briefly in Shane's direction and then swore under her breath and then said calmly, "I hate to tell that asshole, but if you guys were to leave camp, I'd be leaving too."

"Not iff'n he locked ya up in somethin. Sumbitch looks crazier n' a bedbug.. He's just hidin his crazy." Daryl grumbled to himself. He and Merle shared a look and Merle gave a nod, indicating that he understood what Daryl was thinking.

Brianne actually took a long look at Shane then and she shivered as she realized just how accurate that statement actually was. "I never noticed that before..." Brianne mumbled to herself, giving Shane a glare when their eyes met.

Across the campground, Lori happened to catch Shane watching Brianne again. "Shane, stop it. She's done, okay? She's made that pretty clear, actually. I mean how much proof do you need? Just let it go. Because if you don't, then there is going to be a lot of unnecessary tension in the group. Looking over there isn't going to do anything but make her mad."

"If she's mad, means she still feels somethin."

"It means she's tired of you butting in. She's made it pretty clear how she feels now, since she came back."

"She just waits on the two of 'em hand and foot. You think they brainwashed 'er or somethin? That's why she's actin different? She wasn't like that before, she was a hell of a lot more soft spoken. " Shane said quietly, missing the way Brianne used to be, but fascinated by this new side of her also. They had been having some pretty intense fights.

She hadn't really just 'picked a fight' before. She seemed to do it a lot now.

She'd been more passive before.

Now she wasn't quite so passive, she'd tell you off in a heartbeat.

She wasn't afraid to take risks either, from what he'd heard. Because the two men she'd come to camp with went into town earlier, for supplies, and she'd went with them, despite everything he tried to do to stop her from going. And she'd come back, and apparently she'd been only seconds away from getting bit by a Walker.

She'd been real quick to tell Shane that she had it until Daryl took the walker out with a crossbow's arrow to the skull. And that little spark of jealousy Shane felt?

It turned from a little spark to a raging inferno.

He was losing control of the situation; he didn't like knowing this one bit either.

Before now, Brianne was pretty manageable. He'd always been able to win her back before. This whole new side of her though, it was sort of making him realize that he'd lost her for good. That Lori was pretty much his only option now and all he had.

He stood and made his way down into the woods, finding Lori. She'd left to go and pick berries after he'd told her off about ten minutes before. He snuck up on her, his lips found her neck…

* * *

Rick had left Morgan and Duane about 3 hours before. He wasn't sure how long it would take; to get to the area that he thought Shane might have taken Brianne, Lori and Carl to, because he didn't know how bad the roads were between here and there. He'd just stopped at a gas station to attempt getting some more gas in his car when he saw one of them…

A little girl in a pink robe with a stuffed bunny and fuzzy slippers. He squeezed his eyes shut and shot two times.

The girl fell to the ground and Rick went in to try and get some gas into the car… All he had to do now was find his wife and son and hopefully, his sister. He just hoped that none of them had gotten the dumb idea to try and make it; staying behind after Evacuation.

"They'll be okay. They have to be okay. I'll find them and everything will be okay." Rick mumbled to himself quietly as he got back into the car and started the drive again….

* * *

Obviously, this chapter is the precursor to Rick joining the group and Merle leaving the group. Sorry it wasn't really that eventful, I swear, more big things coming here pretty soon. I'm stunned though, there are 7 reviews, 19 favorites and 26 follows. I really cannot express how moved I am currently, I mean I've never actually thought I was worth a damn at writing. Thank you guys so much, it means the world to me that people are reading and that they seem to like the story so far!

This is probably about day 58/morning of day 59. By now, Merle and Daryl and Brianne have been with the group at the quarry camp for almost a week. Rick's been working his way towards the quarry camp for almost a week and a half now. And we all know what lies ahead to some degree... Or do we?

I'm working on another chapter for you guys now. Hopefully it will be longer and better. This was mostly filler. Maybe I'll even include some sexual tension between Daryl & Brianne for the next one too.. :P we shall see.


	8. Awkward Firsts

Later That Night

It was hotter than hell that night. It was so hot that Brianne contemplated just getting up, going down to the quarry pond and having a dip in that nice cold water. "Fuck it." she mumbled, sliding out of her sleeping bag, grabbing the first shirt she found as she stepped down. She only realized that yes, it was Daryl's black t shirt after she'd done it.

The quarry pond was a dangerous gamble.. But there was cold beer in the cooler in front of the RV. And from the looks of it, the fire from earlier was still sort of going, a lone figure sitting in front of it. She slunk over, grabbing a beer, and she was about to go and find somewhere cool to sit when she realized that it was not Shane sitting in front of the fire, instead, it was Daryl.

He was doing something, she couldn't tell what, but his head was bent and he was in deep concentration mode. She slipped up on him, pressing the cold can in her hand to the back of his neck and he shot up like a rocket, swearing and glaring. The glare softened slightly when he saw that it had only been Brianne.

He felt like an idiot.

His thing with being snuck up on -it came at the hands of his father, who'd do it and pick him up, throw him on the floor or out into the yard right before a beating – was ingrained into him so deeply that he couldn't be snuck up on by anyone; he'd only barely refrained from punching Brianne.

"Ya fuckin have to do that shit?" Daryl grumbled. And it was then that he actually noticed she was wearing his t shirt and nothing else. "And the fuck is goin on in yer head, woman, comin out 'ere pantsless?"

"At least I didn't come out shirtless too." Brianne shrugged it off, eying him with a raised brow as she tried to get her own slight fear at his getting so angry by the subtlest thing under control.

He didn't say anything, but he was sort of covertly checking her out. So much so that he didn't see the beer that she held out to him. " Thought I'd sit here and try to cool off. Too hot to sleep."

"Yeah." Daryl coughed a little, eyed her. Brianne's eyes settled on the thing he'd been doing which was now laying on the ground.

She grimaced and looked at him when she saw the necklace of Walker ears and then asked quietly, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Cain't turn inta one unless yer bit. It's trophies."

"Gross."

"But it's like people puttin deer heads up on their wall."

"And I also happen to think that's gross, despite the fact that my father and uncle and grandfather all seemed to do it. Rick would've done it too, but Lori, naturally had a few thousand things to say about it." Brianne answered, her eyes lingering on Daryl's eyes.

They were migrating closer together and she asked quietly, "You okay?"

"Yeah." Daryl took a long sip from the beer can, holding her gaze the entire time. The way she looked in his t shirt was highly distracting. He'd never seen a girl in his shirt before. He'd actually never given much thought to how a girl might look in one of his shirts before, either. He'd never admit it out loud but he kind of enjoyed it, seeing her standing there in his black t shirt.

"Sorry I snuck up on you. I just thought you might be thirsty or hot..." Brianne offered awkwardly. He was still tightly wound from earlier, it had happened over ten minutes ago. It had her wondering if maybe there was some hidden reason that he didn't like being snuck up on or touched unexpectedly.

But she didn't want to make things awkward, and she didn't want him to get angry again or something, so she didn't ask. It wasn't her business.

' _No, but you want it to be, Brianne. Because you feel things for him, even if you don't admit it.'_ her mind argued with what she already knew in her heart but was too afraid to admit. Daryl nodded, mumbled a thanks and made himself stop staring at her when she wasn't looking. He'd sat back down by then, she was sitting there beside him, the fire in front of them was dying out a little.

There was something about the glow it cast on her face.

Before he realized just what the hell he was doing, he'd leaned in, brushed some of the soft and dark hair back away from her eyes. Brianne took a few huge sips of the remaining beer in the can, taking a deep breath.

"You just seemed tense.." She mumbled quietly, her eyes locked on his for a moment or two before they darted down to his lips. She licked her lips and found herself leaning in slightly. Daryl, to his own shock, was mirroring the little actions and movements she made and he found himself leaning in too.

"Stop me if.." Brianne mumbled as her lips brushed his lips softly and kind of clumsily at first. Daryl knew he probably should have stopped it, but instead, he rested his hand across the back of her neck, using it to pull her lips against his much deeper than they had been initially. Brianne moved closer, they were sitting at an odd angle, it made things awkward as hell.

She would up sitting on the edge of his lap. Daryl's hands rested on her bare thighs as the kiss continued to deepen. Everything around them was just kind of fading into the background, it was forgotten or not even a little important.

So naturally, they didn't know that not only had Shane stormed out of Lori's tent and was now getting an eye full, but Dale Horvath, who'd come out to get a bottled water, was now seeing the two kissing.

Shane growled to himself. He was beyond tempted to go over, pull Brianne off of the grimy bastard's lap.

His glance met the curious one of Dale Horvath. And Dale eyed him suspiciously but said nothing, instead, vanishing back into the RV with the bottled water. From the tent she'd been sleeping in, Andrea chuckled to herself. "Way to go, Brianne."

She stuck her tongue out at Merle, who was also now awake and aware, seeing what was going on between Daryl and Brianne. Merle chuckled to himself and then muttered in amusement, "About damn time, little brother… About damn time." before going to grab a beer and going back to the front cab of the truck to get back inside and sleep or look at a map.

When the kiss finally broke, Brianne just sort of sat there and stared at Daryl for a few seconds. "You didn't stop me."

"Maybe because I didn't want ta." Daryl answered quietly, his voice coming out thick and heavy.

"I'm glad… Because I kind of wanted to do that for a while now." Brianne admitted as she bit her lower lip and then said quietly, "I'm gonna go wade in the quarry pond… I think I really need to cool down."

Without a word, Daryl stood and walked down the quarry pond with her, shaking his head as he watched her wading around in the icy water of the pond.

But then she ran past him and started to walk out on the log jutting out over the pond.

"The hell are ya doin, woman?"

"Diving in."

"Get yer ass down from there." Daryl gave a commanding look as he stood there, arms crossed. "Too damn noisy, divin."

Brianne pouted momentarily, then she made her way down the hill. Instead of diving in, she swam out to the deeper part.

"C'mon."

"Yer not gon catch me swimmin."

"Suit yourself then. The water feels good."

"C'mon, woman."

Brianne swam around a little more, which did nothing for the way she still felt the intensity of his lips pressing against hers, or the way he just sort of took over when they'd kissed a few minutes ago, and it especially did nothing for the way it felt right and natural; not forced or out of necessity.

She'd kissed him because she wanted to.

She hadn't done something like that in a good long while.

The shock of that realization blew her mind in all honesty. Why hadn't she just walked away from Shane sooner?

But then she found herself getting worried.. Did she just mess up a perfectly good and platonic friendship by kissing Daryl? She had to hope not because she'd gotten attached to him… She hadn't even seen it coming when it happened, either.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine, I was just thinking." Brianne muttered as they walked back up the hill. Her hand found his. He was going to pull his hand away, because that's just how he normally did things, but instead, he found that he didn't want to.

But this wasn't something he was used to; any of it, at all.

He laced his fingers through hers and then said quietly, "Probably gon be gone already when ya finally get yer ass out of bed. Gon go find a new spot in the woods to hunt."

"Just be careful, please?"

"Not makin any promises, woman."

"At least try, damn it." Brianne laughed a little, smiling at him, praying to God she hadn't made things awkward when she kissed him just now.

* * *

Obviously, this chapter is the precursor to Rick joining the group and Merle leaving the group. Sorry it wasn't really that eventful, I swear, more big things coming here pretty soon. I'm stunned though, there are 9 reviews, 19 favorites and 27 follows. I really cannot express how moved I am currently, I mean I've never actually thought I was worth a damn at writing. Thank you guys so much, it means the world to me that people are reading and that they seem to like the story so far!

Okay, so this was kind of awkward fluffiness. And a kiss! Yay! I feel like I timed it okay, I hope to God that people are IC and all that jazz. I'm doing my best, Daryl can be slightly complex to write at times, I hope I'm at least doing it halfway decent.


	9. The Way You Make Me Feel

The Next Day

"C'mon, Aunt Brie… sing the song." Carl begged his aunt. Brianne shook her head and tried to beg off but Carl was determined. He turned to Sophia and pointed out, "My aunt went to New York one year in high school… With the.." Carl looked up at his aunt who looked up from the old Victoria's Secret catalog she'd found in her things to respond, "Chorus. I was a soprano." as she shrugged.

"Please sing the song? Mommy always takes us to church and we sing there and I miss it a little." Sophia begged. Carol shook her head at her daughter and quickly explained, "If you don't want to sing, Brianne.."

"No, it's fine." Brianne smiled. She didn't blame the kids, they had to be going stir crazy, Carl had been in Scouts and had to stop that, they didn't get to just stop and be kids anymore. Lori sat in the distance, eying Brianne as Brianne trimmed up Carl's hair.

Carl had insisted that Brianne do it. Which he had before the apocalypse and it had bothered Lori then too. Even Rick got his sister to cut his hair when he needed it as opposed to coming to Lori to get her to do it. Then again, Brianne had worked at one of the high end salons in Atlanta, so Lori was trying to console herself with that being the only reason why.

Because she was not about to admit that occasionally, yes, she did get jealous of Brianne. And maybe, yes, that's why she spent so much time inventing reasons to get Shane over there when Brianne and Shane had been together.

"Okay, you two… I haven't sang anything in a while. So my voice probably sucks now." Brianne warned the two 11 year olds sitting around. She hummed for a few seconds to get a beat going and she decided to sing the song stuck in her head lately, a song she sang sometimes when Merle and Daryl were gone and neither could hear her, and she'd be alone in the cabin, cleaning.

What would my mama do

(Uh Oh Uh Oh)

If she knew 'bout me and you?

(Uh Oh Uh Oh)

What would my daddy say

(Uh Oh Uh Oh)

If he saw me hurt this way?

(Uh Oh Uh Oh)

Why should I feel ashamed?

Feeling guilty at the mention of your name

Here we are again

It's nearly perfect

Carl looked in the silvery hand mirror that his aunt handed to him as she finished his haircut and smiled a little. And then Brianne happened to catch Daryl's intent and curious gaze.

Daryl heard her singing again. It got him to thinking about being back at the cabin, right after he'd bought her back to the cabin to stay. .. How he'd come back from one of his early morning hunts to the sound of someone singing.

At first, he'd thought a radio was playing because it was some song he didn't know; he hadn't heard it before, and he'd went on the offensive…

XOX

 _He'd just slid off the mud caked boots, he still didn't understand why in the hell the woman demanded that he actually knock the mud off his boots be fore coming in, it wasn't like the place was some fancy ass mansion or something, but he'd done it anyway._

 _The sound caught him off guard. It almost sounded like someone had a radio going. He pulled the knife out of his pocket, poised and ready. He stepped into the house quietly, every intention of deterring whoever had broken in from sticking around, only to discover that the singing was not coming from an intruder but from the woman he'd picked up on the side of the road, Brianne._

 _He could've cleared his throat or announced his presence in the room, instead, he leaned in the doorway quietly, watching her move around the kitchen, his eyes sort of just roaming; taking full advantage of the fact that no, she had no actual clue he'd come back from his hunt._

 _The song was ending and Brianne turned to get something out of a cabinet, she found herself chest to chest with Daryl who nodded to the door and said in a quiet and firm tone, "Woman, are ya stupid? Leavin the damn door unlocked, anybody kin just slip up on ya. Like I just did." as he cleared his throat hastily._

" _I thought it was locked."_

 _It had been, but Daryl was pissed at himself for being distracted by her, watching her. He'd gotten the key from beneath the mat where the previous owners of the cabin had apparently kept it and he and Merle just felt was easier to keep track of it. So no, he wasn't about to admit that._

" _Well, it wasn't, woman." he cleared his throat, there they went again, bodies brushing, his fingers felt like reaching out, raking through that long dark hair just to see if it really was as soft as it looked. It happened a lot lately around her and Daryl had been doing his damndest to fight it off, these urges._

" _The hell were ya singing anyway?"_

" _Some song I heard on the radio before the world went radio silent… I, umm… I think it's Mama Do by Pixie Lott. I know, I sounded like shit… It was just too quiet. The quiet just hasn't ever… I've never been a big fan of it.." Brianne mentally kicked herself because not only were they standing body to body, she was reaching up before she realized it, brushing some hair out of his face. "You should let me cut your hair."_

 _Daryl eyed her with a raised brow. She went on to explain, "I worked in this classy beauty salon in Atlanta… before all this shit started. I cut my brother's hair and my nephew's hair too."_

" _Don't need no haircut yet." Daryl grumbled, a little more than a little cranky with himself because his body was rebelling against the iron will of his mind. He was moving closer to her. He realized then just how short she was too and it made him chuckle a little. "Midget woman."_

" _I am not a midget. I am 5'3.. And a half. And a good 5'5 with the right pair of stilettos. So ha. Your argument is invalid."_

" _And yer a midget. Rest my case. If ya gotta wear heels to reach 5'5 then yer a midget."_

" _Fuck you, Dixon."_

' _ **You have no idea, woman'** he thought to himself, immediately coughing after the thought as if that was going to make the thought vanish into the ether that was his mind._

" _Fuck you, huh? You kiss yer momma with that mouth, sugar titties?" Merle asked, looking from his brother, -who looked like a volcano on the verge of eruption at any second- to the curvy and petite brunette that his brother bought back to the cabin not too long ago._

 _He got a beer out of the cooler and then said casually, "Why don't yall just get a room and get it over with, damn." before disappearing into his own room so he could laugh his ass off at the tension between the two and his brother's obvious thing for the curvy little brunette in privacy._

" _Asshole." Daryl grumbled grumpily, flipping off his brother's bedroom door._

" _Yep. That he can be." Brianne echoed, shuffling her feet, trying to get control of the damn hormone surge that seemed to nearly always happen in the presence of Daryl Dixon as of late. She'd been engaged… She still wasn't sure how she felt about ending things with Shane, she'd never NOT been with the man before now. And what if he was out there, looking for her?_

' _ **Brianne, sweetheart, you are an idiot. Face it. If Shane Walsh was actually putting any real effort into lookin for you, he'd have found you on the road that day. Not this bona fide specimen of walking sex standing in front of you right now. Oh shit, damn it, Brianne Elanor Grimes, you get control of yourself this second! '** she tried to mentally warn herself. It didn't work. She couldn't focus, felt like the air got sucked out of the room every single time they were in it together. Even telling herself that the feeling was most likely not mutual and definitely one sided didn't work._

" _Ain't no can be to it, woman. Merle Dixon is an asshole." Daryl shrugged as he said it, sneaking a french fry from a plate full of them as he finished saying, "He'll even tell ya so 'imself."_

" _Somehow, Daryl, that doesn't surprise me at all." Brianne mumbled, trying to focus on the flour she was spreading over the finely shredded rabbit meat in front of her, anything except those lips, those eyes, those arms and that smirk on his face._

 _Xox_

Glenn and Dale were talking to him about something, he nodded and pretended that yes, he'd just heard Dale's entire one sided conversation but Glenn snickered and mumbled something, the gist of it being that he had his mind on something else.

"Did not, damn it." Daryl grumbled as he glared at Glenn who said "So, we're going on a supply run into Atlanta..."

From behind them, Merle spoke up, "I'll go. Anything to get the fuck away from camp for a while. Gettin restless." giving a smirk as Shane opened his mouth to say something and then quickly closed it.

"Daryl, you gon go, brother?"

"Nah. I'm goin on another hunt later. Gon stock up on food." Daryl answered, sitting down his crossbow, leaning it against his leg for the moment.

Grumbling, he grabbed a knife and took the mess of fish he'd gotten an hour ago and took them to a table set up away from everyone to skin the fish.

* * *

Wow, so I have 9 reviews, 19 favorites and 29 follows and I am totally amazed. You guys, aww! -hugging everyone-, you made me feel so much more at ease about sharing this. And in honor of that, I kind of gave some more fluff and another flashback for you all. If you haven't guessed, not a Lori Grimes fan, so that's kind of why Brianne was interacting with Carl in this chapter. I know, I know.. But it won't happen all the time. Just here and there, I mean they're family.

This chapter is another 'precursor' to Rick's arrival. He'll be in the next chapter, and it'll be an emotional rollercoaster. I'm working on that now, I just got inspired to write this chapter on a whim, so here it is. I pray to God that I'm at least a little bit IC with the characters.

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS & THE ADDS! I AM HONORED! I HOPE YOU GUYS CONTINUE TO ENJOY THIS.


	10. Return of One, Loss Of Another

Later That Day

"When are you going to do something about the way you feel about Daryl?" Amy Harrison asked her with a curious look in her eyes. Brianne stopped sewing the hole in Daryl's jeans as she bit her lower lip and then said quietly, "I don't know."

"So you know you feel something."

"I mean I did kiss him about two nights ago… I just don't really know what to do next… I mean if we cross certain lines now, Amy, then we're no longer just friends. And I'm scared to death to mess our thing up..." Brianne sighed and then added, "But it's driving me crazy because I've never actually wanted anything more than I want to tell him how I feel."

"So do it. Shane had his chance, I mean from what you've told Andrea and I, and he blew it. Besides, Andrea… Do not tell anyone I told you but she's kind of into Merle. She said he's challenging."

"I'm not sure I'd use the word challenging to describe him, but hey… She going to tell Merle? Because I can just picture that conversation in my head as it happens." Brianne gave a soft laugh and then shook her head a little. Lori and Shane were fighting again and Brianne nodded to Lori right as Carol asked quietly, "What's your history with Officer Walsh?"

"To sum it up. Girl meets boy. Girls brother warns her repeatedly about boy. Girl is stupid and does not listen to brother's warnings. Girl gets her heart broken not just once, but at least 3 major times. But this time, Carol, I'm done. Completely and totally done… Besides, why the hell would I want a little boy when there's more man in Daryl Dixon's pinkie finger than there is in Shane Walsh's entire body. A man doesn't leave the woman he's going to marry stranded in the middle of nowhere while he takes off to go tend to her sister in law."

"And now it makes sense, why you and Lori don't get along either." Carol mused as she grumbled quietly when she saw Ed leaving their tent. She hoped that just once, Ed would leave her alone, let her talk to the other women in the group.

"Somehow, right now, my brother is rolling in his grave. He loved her. He put her before everything… We all know how she's repaying him. She only 'mourned' for 60 odd days. If she really loved him, wouldn't have been that easy to just move on… But hey, I don't know the whole story and I didn't like her prior to my brother marrying her, so there you go." Brianne answered quietly, finishing the patching up of Daryl's jeans.

"That was a pretty hot kiss two nights ago… Maybe if you told him how you felt, Brianne..." Amy looked at her friend and Brianne got the dreamy and faraway look in her eyes again, it tended to happen if Daryl were around or if he were the subject of conversation.

"I…. I've never actually been the forward person in a relationship… I'm still surprised I kissed him, I mean.." Brianne faltered, raking her fingers through her hair as she watched the treeline, waiting to see him walk back into camp from his hunt.

"You made one move… Making the next one shouldn't be too hard.. Besides, it kind of seems like maybe he's not the whole approach a girl first kind." Amy said, but Brianne was too busy watching the road, the loud horn of the red Challenger that sped down it. "What the fuck even?" Brianne mumbled, nodding to the road.

The Challenger stopped, Glenn got out and Shane stormed over, swearing up a storm as he disarmed the horn. Brianne mused aloud, "And he finally does something that's actually of use." as Amy gave a quiet laugh.

But then the delivery truck slid into the campground as hot as someone could come in hot. And Daryl approached the camp, calling his brother's name. And as Brianne watched the others unloading from the back end of the truck, she saw no sign of Merle.

But then, the driver got out.

And Brianne heard Carl shout "Dad!" and take off at a run past her. Lori's face was paling more with each second and then Brianne saw her older brother walking towards his wife and son, towards where she stood herself.

"Rick… I thought you were..." Brianne slumped, Glenn managed to catch her -under a glare from Daryl, of course- and get her to a chair. Rick hugged his family, on the verge of tears. He'd almost given up finding them quite a few times, but he'd kept going, kept pushing.

And he'd found them, all of them, alive and well.

Brianne came to and ran straight to her brother, hugging him. "I thought you were dead. I came to see you, in the hospital…Before we had to come up here.." Brianne was crying but Rick hugged her and then said quietly, "Nope. I'm alive. And I think, Brianne, you left something with me." as he pressed the necklace he'd given his sister back into her hands.

"Where's Merle?" Brianne asked, a confused look on her face as she scanned the crowd. Andrea tensed all over, she got Brianne off to the side and explained quietly, "There was an incident… The son of a bitch was being, well… Merle."

Daryl caught the tail end of this and asked, "What the fucking hell happened?"

"He got handcuffed to a pipe on the roof of a department store… We were leaving, nobody could find the key… I tried to stay with him, Daryl… He made me leave." Andrea explained quietly as Daryl shoved his way towards where Rick stood now, talking to Shane.

"You got something to tell me, Rick Grimes?"

The fact that this was Brianne's older brother, that wasn't sinking in currently. The fact that his own older brother, Merle, was missing, that was what Daryl was primarily thinking about.

Brianne tensed all over and when Shane grabbed hold of Daryl, putting him into the choke hold, Brianne shouted at him, "Oh way to be a fucking man, Shane. Let him go. Now." as she went to push forward more, being stopped by Andrea.

"Did you not see 'im tryin to take my damn head off with the shovel in 'is hands, Brie?" Shane asked, an angry look in his eyes as he and Brianne stared each other down. Rick stepped up and said quietly, "We'll go back for him."

"Damn right yer gon go back for 'im." Daryl snapped, glaring angrily at Rick, shoving his way through the rest of the group, taking off to his truck. When Brianne walked over, he didn't hear her, he was too busy being angry, swearing.

She caught him off guard.

"If my brother said he'll take you back and go get Merle, Daryl, he will." Brianne said quietly, standing there behind him, not sure what the hell she could say or do in this situation. Parts of her knew that logically, Merle had probably gotten Merle into the situation he'd found himself in, but other parts of her knew exactly where Daryl was coming from and remembered Daryl taking her to the hospital to see if Rick got evacuated.

Daryl looked up at her, nodded quietly. The angry glare was still set in, and he could look at her and tell she was tense and skittish. "What are ya doin down here?"

"You looked like you needed someone around.. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I know how it feels…" Brianne mumbled quietly, her voice smaller, shaky. She knew he was furious right now, and that the wise decision would be to leave Daryl alone, but… She couldn't, she didn't want to because the simple fact of the matter was that she loved him and it killed her to see him hurting and she could just tell right now… he was definitely hurting.

"Yeah, well, maybe yer wrong. And no, you don't know how it feels… Yer brother's alive and well right now, ain't he, princess? Mine's chained on top o' some god damn roof like a dog, waitin to die. And nobody gives a shit..." Daryl grumbled, glaring at her. It was sinking in now, her brother was the man who'd made the decision to chain his older brother onto the roof and then he'd gotten left behind. "Why don't ya just go on? Beat it. Don't want nobody around right now." Daryl snapped angrily, glaring out at the water, not even bothering to look at Brianne for more than a few s econds.

Anger was clouding his normal reasoning. Honestly, he didn't want her to leave. He didn't want to be snapping at her right now, either. He knew he was angry and taking it out on her but before he could stop himself, it was happening.

"Yeah, it wasn't a good idea to come over here. I'm sorry, I'll go." Brianne quickly turned, taking off, because no way in hell was she going to let Daryl see her upset. She got why he was upset, she knew that he was angry right now, but it still hurt, the angry way his eyes bore into her just now, the distant tone he took.

She shoved past Shane and Shane stopped her by saying quietly, "Guess yer seein Daryl's true f eelins now, huh?"

"Go fuck yourself, Shane. I'd rather be all alone than have anything to do with you ever again. Are we clear? Just because Daryl doesn't want me around right now... Doesn't mean I'll be crawling back to you." Brianne spat angrily.

Rick looked from Shane to Brianne and then got Shane off to the side and asked quietly, "What the fuck is going on with you and my sister?"

"A misunderstandin is all… Just a little misunderstandin… We'll be okay." Shane answered, holding Rick's gaze.

Brianne had been sitting down at the quarry pond on the sandbar for almost 3 hours. Daryl started to find himself looking around for her, whether he wanted to or not. Andrea told him that the last place she'd seen Brianne was down on the sandbar and Daryl quietly made his way down to the sandbar.

"Shane, I swear to God above, if you're down here when I look up.." Brianne grumbled when she heard the footsteps, heard someone sitting down next to her. She didn't look up. All she wanted was a few minutes to sort of calm down, reflect on how shitty her timing was and why a guy like Daryl Dixon would never go for an annoying pain in the ass like her.

"I shouldn'ta lost it on ya."

Brianne's head raised and her eyes met his. She shrugged and then said quietly, "I actually can't blame you. I mean I wasn't in the best frame of mind when I thought my brother got left behind in that damn hospital to die..."

"I still shouldn'ta lost it on ya. Shane been botherin you again?" Daryl asked, his voice a little tense and edgy because frankly, he was still madder than hell and looking for a fight.

And if Shane were going to use the little argument that he and Brianne had earlier after he exploded on her and she just quietly ran from him, well… He wasn't going to waste a single second, taking the guy's head clean off his shoulders.

The jealousy came up quickly before he could stop it.

"I handled it. Told him he could go fuck himself." Brianne shrugged, careful to avoid Daryl's gaze. She didn't want him seeing the redness in her eyes. She didn't want any man seeing her cry ever again. She'd made her mind up on that after things went so horribly wrong with Shane.

It didn't stop Daryl from seeing it though. But before he could say anything, Rick called his sister's name from the top of the hill.

"Down here, Rick."

"It's probably not safe, sitting down there alone in the darkness." Rick called out, shining his flashlight down to the sandbar. He saw the guy from earlier, Daryl Dixon, sitting by his sister. He wasn't quite sure what to think about it, really.

Lori informed him quietly, "She's been with Daryl and Merle since the whole thing started… Something happened on evacuation day and we all got split up. But Shane, he took me and Carl so we would make it out."

"And he left Brianne?"

"He tried to find her, Rick. She didn't want to be found."

Rick's jaw set grimly, but not wanting to fight with his wife about just how strange things seemed between herself and Shane and how it made zero sense that Shane wouldn't try everything to find his fiance before going to help Lori and Carl leave town, he just did what he'd been so good at doing before the outbreak, before his coma..

He pushed it all down as far as it would go.

"You cannot be seriously considering helping Daryl go back into the city to find his brother."

"I can, Lori and I am. It's the right thing to do."

"But we just got you back!"

"And I'll come back again, I promise. I need to go back anyway… I had more weapons, I left them behind in the hurry to get us all out alive." Rick stated it calmly, turning to walk back to the tent that Lori and Carl were sleeping in.

Down at the sandbar, Brianne looked up to find Daryl sitting there, quietly, smoking a cigarette. "I'm sorry… I know you needed to be alone earlier. I should've just let you be alone."

"It's okay. It's not a big deal."

They both went back to staring out at the water, the ripples being made by swimming fish just beneath the surface of the quarry pond. Brianne sighed quietly and then turned, looking at Daryl… She wanted to ask about the other night, the kiss, what it meant, but now was clearly not the time to do that.

Instead, she said quietly, "Do something for me tomorrow?"

"What's that?"

"Be careful… Come back here… To me… In one piece." Brianne said quietly, her eyes fixing on his. Daryl blinked a little, as if her words shocked him, as if the fact that she wanted him to be okay shocked him and the two started to lean in again.

Daryl pulled her into his arms, much like the last time and his lips found hers. The kiss was slow, lingering, he nipped at her lips, she nipped at his, both succeeded at taking the other's breath away and when it broke, Brianne stood and started to walk quickly up the hill. Daryl sat there in the darkness for a few minutes collecting himself.

"That's what's gon get my ass killed. Attachments are not a good thing, man." Daryl muttered to himself even as the smirk was coming easily. He knew deep down of course, he was already attached in a thousand different ways he couldn't possibly ever explain, to himself, let alone to anyone else.

When he'd finally gotten himself together again, he stood, heading back up the hill. He bumped into Shane and the two had this two minute staredown. Daryl leaned in and practically growled at the other man, "Leave 'er alone or I'll kill ya. We clear?"

"Funny, Dixon, I was about to tell you the same thing. I mean judging from earlier… You probably just blew it all to hell."

"I don't give a shit. The point is, Walsh, keep yer ass away from 'er. Or you die." Daryl turned and stormed off, in the d irection of his truck bed. Which was where Shane had seen Brianne heading to.

He grumbled to himself as he watched Daryl getting into the truck bed, knowing Brianne was already inside the truck bed. He punched at the side of his Bronco.

"Just wait, Dixon… She's gon see what you really are.. Then I'll step in and save 'er from it." Shane glared at the Ford where it sat parked in the darkness.

Inside the bed of the truck, Brianne was already sleeping in her designated area when she heard Daryl getting settled into his. What surpised her was when he rolled over and his arm slipped over her in the darkness.

It was something he hadn't done. He wasn't big on physical contact with other people, Brianne knew this.

Rather than call any sort of attention to it and make things even more awkward than they might already be at the moment, she snuggled herself in comfortably and not too long after, she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, it was to find that Daryl and her brother and two other men, Glenn and T Dogg had already left to go back to the rooftop Merle had been left on.

* * *

I'm so shocked right now, I have 13 reviews! So happy! -hugging everyone who reviewed-. I also want to thank you 22 favoriting and 32 following. Without everyone's encouragement, this story wouldn't have made it this far and I owe you all my deepest thanks. I'm so glad that so many seem to actually want to keep reading!

Okay, so Rick is back! There was a lot of action going on here, I hope I got everyone IC, I tried not to focus entirely on the OC, if it seems like I did, I'm sorry. I do have a question for everyone reading though... I thought about having Merle be found as opposed to going missing... Because I've been toying with the idea of having a Mandrea (merle and andrea) pairing as the secondary pairing for the story. Plus, I happened to like Merle too and kind of hated it when he and Daryl got split up so early in.

I'm undecided as to which way I'm going to go as of right now, but I'm working on that chapter as we speak.

Daryl and Brianne sort of had a rough patch in this chapter, but realistically, I think they'd have reacted similar. I hope they would have, at least. I mean her brother essentially made the decision to leave his brother behind so yes, there would be tension. And no worries, she will NOT be going to Shane. I hated that damn guy. Anyway, here you go, have more sexy moments and fluff and a whole lot of chaos too. I hope you guys like it!


	11. The Stand Off at the Quarry

The Next Day – Morning

"What in the hell is Jim doing?"

"He's been digging since 6 am." Lori answered, shielding her eyes from the sun above. Carol tried to call out Jim's name but Ed's glare silenced her. He was still sporting a black eye from two nights prior, when he'd gotten the living hell beat out of him by Shane at the quarry pond. "Leave 'im be, nosy ass woman. All of ya. Get yer asses back to doin useful things."

"That's it, I'm stabbing him." Andrea started to say but Amy and Jacqui stopped her, shaking their heads as Jacqui said quietly, "We don't want him giving Carol any trouble. Poor woman gets far more than enough from that drunken asshole."

Andrea had been on edge all morning. She hadn't slept the night before, either. Merle being gone.. They'd had one or two late night conversations that no one knew about, but the gist of those conversations was Andrea discovering that despite all outward appearances… Merle Dixon was not the worst man in the world.

He carried himself like a badass, but he could be an actual teddy bear. He was fiercely loyal to his brother and very protective. All were enough qualities to have redeemed himself in Andrea's eyes. Amy asked Shane aloud, "Can't you stop him from digging?" which naturally, got ignored.

Brianne started to stand, to make her way out to Jim but she decided against it. The man seemed off somehow. He'd been pale when he was eating breakfast earlier, he was sort of feverish looking. The last thing she wanted to do was approach the guy; have him attack her.

Carl watched Jim digging quietly. "Mom, he's freaking me out."

"Me too, Carl."

Lori approached Shane when she finally couldn't take it anymore, after they'd gone to the quarry pond to wash clothes and Jim was still digging away at holes. Finally, Shane approached Jim, Ed right on his heels, drunk and looking for a fight. Which he tried to pick with a sickly Jim…

* * *

They'd just made it into the bottom level of the department store that Merle had been left behind at. So far, nothing had went as according to their established plan. Three times Daryl and Rick had a staredown and it seemed like they'd kill each other for sure, but Glenn managed to break the two up each time, reminding them that they were here to find the rest of the guns and Daryl's brother.

They were fighting off a herd in the second level when Daryl heard the groaning from a corner… He held his finger to his lips, made his way carefully around a corner.

He'd thought maybe it was Merle, it wasn't. But it was a group of two Walkers. Daryl quickly disposed of the two and the group advanced a level, going out and onto the rooftop. When Daryl saw that hand and the hacksaw, it took everything he had not to get angry and kill the other three men right there on the spot. Rick managed to get him relatively calm and Daryl said in a commanding tone, "He made it offa here."

"He might have bled..." Rick started to say but the fiery anger in the other man's eyes silenced his sentence and it died on his lips. "We'll look for him on the way down. On the other side of the store, maybe he's in one of the rooms there."

"Damn well right yeh are."

The group set off, leaving the rooftop behind them. They'd gotten down to the second level again, on the opposite side of the way they came, near the sporting goods area… Daryl noticed the hot plate, smelled the tinge of burnt flesh in the air and he realized what his brother must have done.

"He's out there, somewhere. We keep lookin."

The group sat down and figured out a way to get to the outside and the guns….

* * *

"Jim! Hey, stop diggin a second, buddy, let's talk." Shane approached the man cautiously, something about Jim's eyes, they hadn't looked right all day. He'd looked pale, he'd been coughing… Kind of like the ones who caught the fever in the beginning of the outbreak.

All of Shane's warning bells were going off.

Jim kept right on digging.

Ed lost it, grabbing another shovel, which he was about to use on Jim until Shane got him down to his knees and took away the shovel. "Get yer ass in the RV, Ed. Unless you want me to beat yer ass again."

"Can't stop digging."

"Why not?"

"Don't know… My dream. I have to dig enough holes."

"Look, buddy, let one of us take the shovel. You go lie down."

"No!"

Shane was un nerved.

Jim was stubbornly resisting his order. Shane took the shovel and got Dale Horvath to help Jim into the RV to lay down. Shane dropped the shovel, angry.

That anger only grew when he saw the moving van that Rick and the others left in earlier coming back. If Rick hadn't woken up… The thought, when he had it initially, unsettled him. And he quickly tried to forget that he'd had it.

But then Andrea took off at a run and met Merle about halfway across camp. "You asshole!"

"What, woman?"

"You fucking scared me, okay? I could have stayed with you." Andrea said as she helped the man to a chair, grabbing him a beer. She eyed his missing hand warily and Merle wiped away sweat and mumbled angrily, "Wasn't bit. This is what happens when you give a dumbass the handcuff key n he loses it. Had ta saw off my own damn hand."

"Where the hell is my husband?" Lori asked, getting angry, approaching Merle.

"Took their ride, woman. Figured a walk back to the campground oughta give 'em a nice long time to think about the shit they done to me." Merle waved it off, ignoring Lori's glare, the way she got angry enough to spit nails at him.

Brianne snatched his beer and then said in a very angry tone, "What the actual fuck, Dixon? You seriously went off and left Daryl there?"

"Daryl went with 'em?" Merle's shock showed clearly on his face and instantly, his stomach churned. He'd just stranded his brother in walker heavy territory. He grumbled, damn it, why wouldn't that damn boy just stay his skinny ass at camp? Or in the woods?

Noooo, he had to go runnin in to the rescue. Always had to play the damn hero.

"No, moron, he disappeared without a trace." Brianne snapped, patience at a minimal at the moment. Another rarity for her before the apocalypse happened.. She'd been this mild mannered and quiet girl; she never stepped one toe over the line, she never truly lost her temper.

Not like right now… Not when the man she wouldn't admit to being in love with but was very much in love with was stranded in a walker infested city with no way but his feet back to camp. Daryl was a tough son of a bitch, Brianne thought to herself, but he was going to have to walk… All the way back to the quarry camp.

"I swear to God, if I don't get the hell away from him right now, I will punch him in the throat." Brianne grumbled, swearing as she stormed off. Andrea glared at Merle and then said quietly, "That was an asshole move, Merle. Those people put their asses on the line to go and find you. And you strand them there, in the middle of all those fucking things… I need to calm down." shaking her head as she went to find Amy.

"Let's go fishing. If I stay here I will wind up choking the man I happen to care more about than I should. And I'd really rather not do that.."

"Hey, is there room in the boat for one more? If I stay around up there, between Shane and Lori and their covert eye fucking and how it grosses me out and the fact that the son of a bitch LEFT not only his own damn brother and the man I happen to care a lot about but also my brother to walk back to camp… Yeah, I'm suddenly feeling like I might choke someone."

"Grab a pole, Brie." Andrea said as the three women walked down the hill, leaving Merle to sit there and contemplate what he'd just done… If he'd had any actual idea that Daryl was with the other three he would never have taken the van when he saw it again.

"Just fuckin fail the kid again." Merle mumbled to himself thinking nobody heard him when he said the words.

* * *

They'd managed to fight off the Walkers, get the weapons back from another band of survivors in the city and they were setting off to leave when they realized the van was missing. "Merle musta taken it… To get back at ya." Daryl assessed quietly, Rick thinking about it and not saying that Merle might not even be alive currently, though earlier, one of the kids in the other group of survivors said he'd seen the man with one hand.

The four of them started their walk back to the quarry campground. It was mostly silent, definitely a tension filled silence. Rick broke that silence by asking Daryl quietly, "What are your intentions?"

"The hell you mean?"

"With my sister."

Daryl eyed him and mumbled quietly, "Don't matter. Won't ever work out. Nothin in this new world is gon work out the way any of us wants it. Besides, girls like that.. The smart ones stay the hell away. We're friends."

"But Dale Horvath mentioned that you two were kissing each other a few nights ago." Rick eyed the man. Daryl shrugged.

"If you hurt her..."

"Ain't me you gotta worry about there. Like I said. We're just friends, damn it." Daryl practically growled as he gave the man a warning look, thinking maybe that would stop the conversation from going where it seemed to be headed.

"Let's just get back to camp."

"Probably the best idea you had all day, Rick Grimes." Daryl muttered in a dry tone as he and the other men started to walk back towards the camp.

* * *

It was getting darker. Lori eyed the road anxiously. Brianne's eyes darted around the campground. No sign of Daryl or her brother and the other two men. This, of course, had her swearing about Merle's stunt earlier all over again.

Just around the time Dale shouted from the top of the RV to get the kids indoors because he saw a herd of Walkers, and not a small one, either.

Merle's head snapped up.

He took out his Bowie knife and sharpened it a little. Everyone else was rushing around for guns, whatever they could get their hands on. Brianne dug around in the back of the truck and she found the baseball bat she'd been using since Merle and Daryl said that her aim with the primitive bow and arrow just wasn't… It was endangering to anyone within a 2 foot radius. When she found it, she also found the necklace of walker ears. She grabbed a napkin, grimacing, and she put it out where she could see it later.

She'd gotten the idea to add an ear or two to it for him.

Maybe to smooth things over after their strange argument and impromptu kissing thing last night.

Mentally, she was thinking of doing it because the necklace being here meant that Daryl would be too.

Shane stopped her just before she went towards the whole thing. "Where 'n hell do you think yer goin? Get yer ass back in the RV."

"Get your fuckin hands offa me, Shane or I'll brain you with this bat. I'm going to help the others.. Because we're short handed. Gonna be an actual man or are you gonna go cower and hide with Lori? It's sad… The Shane I loved once… he actually had a set of balls."

With the words being said, Shane watched in shock for a moment as Brianne caught a Walker about to go for an unsuspecting and reloading Andrea, knocking the thing's head almost clean off it's shoulders in the process.

Merle yelled in the midst of it all, "I see ya found yer bat, sugar titties."

"Mhmm. Still not talking to you right now, Merle." Brianne grunted as she was about to swing the bat at one coming right for her, feeling around, arms out. She took steps backwards, staying out of it's arms reach and she tripped over a root in the ground.

"Fuck!"

Before she had time to try and stand and swing the bat again, an arrow sliced through the back of the Walker's skull.

If she could have done it, without risking herself or him or anyone else in the group being bitten, she'd probably have ran to him and kissed him at the sight of him.

Merle saw the men coming up the hill and he called out to them. "If ya'll got any weapons, might be good of ya to get yer asses up here and help out."

Rick and Glenn quickly loaded guns, T Dogg picked up a shovel.

Andrea's scream had Merle looking around the camp and then he saw it. Amy was down, she was bleeding badly. Andrea was wide eyed with shock but not so much that she didn't empty two bullets into the walker's skull.

Andrea knelt down by her sister about the time that Merle actually got a free hand and clear path. He made his way over, inspecting it. "Was she bit?"

"I can't…. I don't know, there's so much blood and I tried to kill the damn thing! I couldn't get to her in time. She ran out of bullets, it grabbed hold and..." Andrea started to vomit. She was sitting down now, holding her sister's head in her lap.

Amy seized, blood and spit bubbling out of her mouth as it happened and then she was still.

Merle snapped at Andrea, "Get yer fuckin ass away from 'er, blondie." just as Amy opened her eyes and began to reanimate.

Andrea raised the gun with shaky hands and squeezing her eyes shut she kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I love you, I'm sorry." the entire time she was emptying the clip into her sister.

* * *

The walkers were dead. They'd lost Amy, Ed and at least two others.

Everyone stood there in shock.

Daryl realized finally that his brother was back at camp. And he promptly punched him in the gut.

"You fuckin sumbitch!"

"Aww, did ya miss me a little?"

"Fuckin asshole." Daryl grumbled angrily as he noticed Andrea and Merle seemed to be acting weird around each other. He and Merle talked a few minutes and Merle admitted with a shrug, "Yer woman has one 'ell of a slap, brother. She was pretty pissed at me, takin off, leavin ya there. I'm touched.. Didn't think ya would actually make 'em go lookin fer me."

"You're my brother." Daryl shrugged, the whole thing getting too awkward for him. His eyes scanned the camp, Merle smirked to himself and then said, "If yer lookin fer yer woman… She took my bowie knife, hauled ass down to the quarry pond. Said there was somethin she had to do. Probably had to wash off all the mess. Ya know she ain't good at bein dirty."

Daryl made his way down the path to the quarry pond and he found Brianne washing her arms off in the quarry pond. He found Shane watching Brianne with this damn goofy look. _'_ _I'm gon bash him in the face with a boulder, oughta take that goofy look right offa that face of his.'_ he thought to himself for a moment.

"Thinks she's fuckin Zena with that bat. She shoulda kept her ass inside." Shane grumbled as Daryl spoke up from behind him, "Fuck off, Walsh. Thought I made myself clear the other night."

Shane glared, he was about to step up to Daryl but Brianne walked up to Daryl and dug around in the pocket of her hoodie, holding out the necklace with the Walker ears.

"There's umm… I put two more on."

Daryl eyed the necklace and then her critically. "Yer okay?"

"I had Punisher."

"So yer namin the bat now."

"Might as well." Brianne muttered, shuffling her feet as she looked up at him. She must have stared at him for almost four minutes before finally doing what she'd wanted to do w hen she saw him walking back into the campground.

Daryl raised a brow when she raised to her tiptoes and pulled him into a kiss as she mumbled quietly into his lips, "I distinctly remember telling you to make it back in one piece. If you ever scare me like that again, Daryl Dixon, I'll kick your ass."

"I'm here, ain't I?" Daryl mumbled as he kissed her back, took the Walker's ear necklace and slid it down onto his neck again. He'd left it behind because it was something of his. It was a personal thing.

But from the looks of it, Brianne wearing his plaid shirt, knotted up above her midriff, she'd decided to raid his clothes instead. "I borrowed your shirt, I..."

"It's just a damn shirt, woman. Don't matter."

* * *

They'd just finished arguing over whether to burn or bury their own and were now sitting in silence around the bonfire. Rick spoke up and said quietly, "Dale said that he thinks Jim was bit.. Or that he has the fever itself… I think maybe… I know it's a long shot, but maybe we should try the CDC."

Nobody really said anything, nobody felt like talking at the moment. Glenn spoke up and said quietly, "It's not like we have a ton of other options."

"There ain't nowhere else left, really." Shane muttered, though he didn't agree. He went back to silently glaring a hole through Daryl Dixon who was sitting with Brianne and talking to Merle.

"The CDC it is then." Rick said quietly as everyone nodded, still numb with shock.

"We're gon have to set out tomorrow." Shane spoke up, at least trying to regain a little of the status he'd had as group leader prior to Rick's return. When Dale asked Rick, "Should we try to go tomorrow?"

"We can't risk staying here longer. They might come back." Rick answered. And just like that, Shane felt it.. He was officially losing everything.

* * *

I continue to be amazed by the support! Aww, you guys are sweethearts. I just want to hug you all! 15 reviews, 23 favorites and 34 follows and I'm just so shocked right now, honestly. So this chapter, I had to make a decision... And I've been wondering... What would the group be like if Merle were still in it? If you think about it, everything goes back to Merle being left behind, that's where things started to go wrong for Merle... Okay, so sue me, he was one of my favorites he evolved a lot in the series and I was proud of him for it.

If you can't tell, I kind of maybe ship Mandrea. So Mandrea will most likely be a thing here. I changed the episode before their journey to the CDC a lot, the biggest change was of course, having Merle come back to the group. The dialogue isn't exactly spot on, I do hope I at least kind of captured each of the characters as accurately as possible.

More little moments between Daryl and Brianne. I hope you guys like this chapter! I really hope that it's not written confusing or anything and that I'm accurately portraying characters. I'm not perfect but I'm putting a lot of effort into it so sorry if anyone's badly OOC.


	12. We're Off To See The Doctor

The Next Day

She went to sit up in the bed of the truck but she couldn't exactly move. The man apparently had a crushing death grip on him when he was fast asleep. She loved the way it felt, make no mistake about it, to be held close by him, but… Daryl Dixon had a crushing death grip. Her brother leaned into the little window running along the 'camper shell' over the bed of the truck and coughing as he looked from her to Daryl, he said quietly, "We need to be getting on the road now, Brianne."

Daryl swore and grumbling, he sat up too. He realized then that he'd been holding her against him… And apparently, he'd had one hell of a grip on her in his sleep. Sitting up, he called out to Rick, "Yer sure goin to the CDC ain't just a damn stupid idea, Rick Grimes?" as he held the man's gaze intently.

He could see Rick's point, trying to save one of their own before the guy succumbed to the fever and had to be put down but then again, he didn't see how the CDC would help either, because if they were going to be of any use, they'd have found a damn cure already.

Rick eyed the man sitting up behind his younger sister, brow raised. How close were they? He couldn't say he wasn't glad she'd finally gotten away from Shane, who he liked but just didn't think was a good fit for his little sister, but he wasn't sure what to make of this Daryl Dixon guy either.

And he still hadn't figured out what happened between Shane and Brianne to make Brianne finally be completely done with Shane. Again, not that he wasn't utterly grateful… he just felt like he was missing this huge piece of the puzzle… And he felt like maybe the puzzle had started to form before he got shot and went into a coma.

And even more, that it had something to do with Lori and the way he and Lori had been fi ghting so much right up to the point which he got shot.

"We have to try, Dixon. Guy is one of ours. And if there's any way we can get a cure out there..." Rick said as he told Brianne again, "Just get up. Do not go back to sleep."

"I won't let 'er." Daryl called out, earning him a pout from Brianne when she turned slightly to look at him over her shoulder. She laughed and said quietly, "You won't, huh? See, that's what you think… I tend to disagree."

Over in Andrea's tent, Merle was still warily trying to wade the emotional typhoon that was Andrea Harrison, one morning after the death of her little sister. He didn't know how to handle it, he'd thought that Daryl was worst at shutting down, mentally checking out when he couldn't handle something or an emotion got too real… Andrea was tight lipped. She'd sobbed over half the damn night and about halfway through, Merle wound up breaking into the hard shit and giving her a few sips of it just to try and sort of get her to stop her crying and go to sleep.

He stared at his rough calloused hand. "I get it, blondie.. If I lost Daryl, I'd be like yer bein right now. I know it hurts."

Andrea stayed quiet, packing their things. She turned to him and then admitted quietly, "Amy was pretty much all I had. I just lost the only family I had left. I don't know how to handle shit like this normally and I'm even worse at handling it now that it's happening to me." as she looked at Merle and then said quietly, "I keep seeing her re animate… If we'd gone on to a safer place, not come here like I insisted."

"It ain't yer fault, Blondie."

Andrea, however, felt otherwise. Everything happening now, with her, was exactly her fault. And she was just so ready to pack it in, give up. She'd went numb after having to put her baby sister down last night. She'd went numb all over… Except her heart, that felt like it was broken in two.

They'd gotten the last of the things in the tent loaded into the trunk of her car. She turned to Merle and asked quietly, a wary and unsure tone in her voice as she did so… "It's going to be a long and quiet ride. I don't think I can handle being alone in my mind that much. Not saying you arguing every ten damn minutes will be better but… Will you ride with me?"

"Might as well." Merle shrugged casually. There was a lot going on between them, ninety percent of it was unspoken. He wouldn't own up to how he felt around her, she had a hard time saying how he made her feel.

The tension was thicker between them, Merle honestly felt, than it was between his brother and Brianne Grimes.

He kept telling himself attachment was a very bad idea, but at the same time, for once he couldn't actually stop the attachment either. Sure they'd fight and argue and she bitched and nagged about every single damn thing… But there were the little moments too.

Like this one.

"Guess we're all set then." Andrea said quietly. Merle took the keys when she pressed them into his hand and then asked, "Think that's a good idea, me bein one handed?"

"It's better than me driving us there right now."

"Don't see how, but hey, iff'n yer gon let me drive this little ricer.."

"Don't make me regret asking you to come with."

"Too far, huh?"

"Not yet. Getting close though. I have no fight left, okay? Zero."

Daryl and Brianne had just gotten the last of their things piled into the bed of the truck and Merle's motorcycle was sitting in the bed, strapped down. They'd left the ill fitting camper shell behind, it probably would have blown off in mid journey.

"Here goes nothin." Daryl mumbled, Brianne nodding her head quietly in agreement. "Maybe we can at least find a way to cure Jim… Experimental drugs or something."

"Honestly, princess, I think they should have just let me take him out to the quarry sandbar and do him in. This fever… It can't be a good idea, transporting somebody with it." Daryl mused as he realized that yet again, he and Brianne were doing it, they were subconsciously drifting closer together. There was a lot he wasn't saying, a lot he couldn't say to her right now. It was still much too soon.

He didn't know if there were words to say what he wanted to sometimes. So he didn't try. And neither of them were jumping at a chance to bring up how they seemed to just kiss each other… how things just sort of fit.

Why rock the boat?, he figured.

"I know." Brianne said quietly, looking up at him.

Again, she got the feeling that like her, he was leaving a lot left unsaid. She wasn't sure why he wasn't saying whatever he wanted, but she knew what was stopping her… The fear of just letting herself fall completely, just giving herself over to someone again, getting lost or caught up in someone again. She loved too hard.

It was a good thing and a very bad thing.

"If yer still tired… You kin finish sleepin."

"I think I'm awake now. If you want to finish sleeping for a while, you can." Brianne offered. Daryl shook his head and then admitted quietly, "Slept better than I usually do last night."

Brianne nodded and gave a soft smile as she admitted, "Me too."

They got into Daryl's truck and pulled into the convoy line behind Merle and Andrea in the car Andrea drove. "Remind me to give him shit about drivin a foreign car." Daryl mused aloud as Brianne laughed a little and then said quietly, "I think he slept in her tent last night… Which was a good thing. But it still does not excuse the very shitty thing he did, taking the van so you guys had to walk all the way back."

"Yer still pissed at 'im."

"Mhmm. He fucking left you guys there after you all went back to find him. Yep, still pretty angry about it. But to be fair, my brother is the reason he wound up handcuffed in the first place."

"Probably whatever he was doin that pissed everybody off." Daryl admitted, looking at the road ahead yet fully aware that Brianne was sitting right beside him and not all the way against the passenger door.

She really didn't sit right against him whenever they were in his truck alone before.

"Probably, but… Rick didn't have to resort to his 'cop' side." Brianne remarked, catching herself staring up at Daryl for a few moments. Daryl stole glances at her when he could. A few times, their eyes met.

Her hand found his free hand when he'd taken it off the wheel and she slipped her hand into his. The drive was mostly quiet and when they reached the CDC, Daryl looked over to find her asleep, her head on his shoulder.

"Fucking hell." Brianne mumbled as she woke up and saw the lawn of the building full of Walkers. "Now how in the shit does my brother expect us to get through this?" she wondered aloud as Daryl moved to get out, grabbing his crossbow. Brianne grabbed her bat and the two worked their way through the Walkers to the door with the rest of the group. Andrea gave a small nod and then mouthed, "This is probably a waste of time." which Brianne nodded in agreement with.

Rick started to beat on the door and after an argument with Dr. Jenner, a close call with a few of the remaining Walkers, the group was allowed inside the compound.

"There are rules to this.. The first one… Once this door closes, it will not open again unless I open it. And I'm not planning on opening it. Before we go any further, I think we all ought to go to the lab and do a blood test."

"Fucking great..." Brianne grumbled, Daryl eying her with a raised brow as she admitted, "I do not like needles."

"And I don't like the idea of givin this guy my blood." Daryl subconsciously moved Brianne closer to him when he happened to see Shane staring at Brianne again, hissing her name as he did so. Brianne heard Shane in the back, hissing her name, but she was ignoring him.

The group made their way into the laboratory, Merle went first. "Just get it over with, doctor man." Merle grumbled, swearing a little when Dr. Jenner jabbed the damn thing into his vein.

"The fucking shit was that fer, huh?"

Merle went to the back of the group and Daryl went next. He sat in that chair, not even flinching. The needle was in and out in literally a second. He walked back down to stand beside Brianne. The kids went after that and then Rick, Shane, Lori and Andrea. Glenn was about to go but Brianne made her way up to the chair, wincing and squirming a little, sucking in a sharp breath as the needle went in and out.

"wasn't so bad." Daryl asked, holding her gaze. Brianne gave him a dirty look and he sort of smirked at her.

Dr. Jenner walked them down a long hallway and told them that the hallway contained the sleeping quarters… And then he did a head count and added, "Some of you might have to share rooms. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Shane hissed Brianne's name again but Daryl turned around instead, giving him a deathly glare.

Daryl and Merle took one room, Andrea and Brianne took the one right across the hall. Once they were in the room, Brianne flopped onto the bed and then said aloud, "Andrea, if you want to talk..."

"I don't… I'm not good at handling this stuff. I never have been." Andrea said quietly, turning to look at her friend. "What the hell did Shane want just now?"

"Don't know, don't care."

"Daryl turned around and gave him this look… If looks could kill, Shane would've dropped dead.. .Why aren't you two sharing a room?"

"I… Neither one of us have mentioned the fact that we seem to wind up kissing each other a lot lately… I don't want to risk temptation making me do something that makes things totally awkward… Plus, I'm fucking scared shitless… I mean I know when I love I… I tend to get too wrapped up in the other person and I lose me."

"I don't think it'd be that way this time… I mean you're nothing like Shane told us all you were whenever he'd talk about you at first… And oh man, it used to piss Lori off. You could just look at her and tell. You could look at him and tell that he didn't really love you, that maybe he liked the fact that you always came back, you did pretty much whatever he wanted, no questions.. he liked that he could dominate you… I've seen you with Daryl. It's nothing like that."

"How'd it go with you and Merle on the way up here?"

"It went okay… He talked a lot, told me things about his life before the outbreak. I think my silence was just too much for him." Andrea admitted quietly, putting on a fresh outfit.

Brianne started to change too. She'd been in the same outfit all day, it was hot, she was sweaty and miserable. Not to mention, she could finally take a long hot shower. And sleep in a real bed again. She'd just gotten her things together to go and take a shower when she heard Rick and Lori fighting in the next room and grumbled to herself quietly.

"I'll never understand why he can love someone like that. All she ever wants to do is fight with him and bitch at him. Not once in all this has she even shown a little remorse for whatever the hell happened between her and Shane." Brianne grumbled, stripping down, stepping beneath the hot water, getting herself clean. She groaned out loud, that's how good it felt to finally be getting an honest to God hot bath.

She'd almost forgotten just how good a long hot bath could feel. She groaned quietly when her mind immediately took it and ran with it, creating a scenario in which she was not in the shower alone right now, but with a certain redneck she was falling for but afraid to admit to that.

* * *

Wow, I'm so happy right now! 16 reviews, 24 favorites, 35 follows. I love you guys so much for continuing to review and encourage me and I only hope this story isn't a disappointment. I hope I'm getting people relatively IC. I am trying, some of them are a little harder for me to write IC than others. So they're all at the CDC now... And the added kick is that Merle isn't missing... So how much of a difference will this make when the group has to find their way out of the CDC? Who knows.

More fluffy stuff. Also, I have posted a poll on my bio for this story, sort of... Go and vote in it, because I am curious to see what you guys think. Anyway, more Daryl x Brianne moments, some Mandrea, and more Shane being an annoying ass. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was mostly filler. The next one will most likely be filler and fluff too.


	13. Kissing & Kitchen Raids

Later That Night

Brianne couldn't sleep. Something just felt off. She'd been laying there, tossing and turning for hours it seemed like, but in reality, she'd only been tossing and turning for maybe an hour and a half. She slid out of bed, sliding on a robe over her nightie and grabbing a flashlight, she slipped out of the room, started to wander the halls in the darkness. She'd just rounded a corner when she heard her sister in law and Shane, from the sound of it, fighting in a room at the end of the hallway. She almost went into the room, determined to catch them in the act finally, instead, she laughed it off and told herself that she was done with the situation in it's entirety.

She kept walking and she found out as she turned another hallway, she wasn't the only one awake. Daryl sat in the hall, bottle in his hands, cigarette dangling between his lips. "I wish he'd quit smoking." she muttered to herself as she made her way over, sitting down beside him.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Somethin like that." Daryl answered quietly, taking another long pull from the bottle and then asking, "The hell are you doin, woman, wanderin the halls with that thing on?" nodding to her flimsy and short nightie, the slightest hint of jealousy evident in his tone.

When Brianne heard it, she felt her heart speeding up a little.

"I didn't think anybody else would be up. I thought I saw ice cream in the freezer in the kitchen area, I was going to investigate… Because Malibu Rum goes really good with ice cream." Brianne held up her own chosen bottle of alcohol, a coconut flavored rum.

"Ya think so, huh?" Daryl asked, moving a little closer to her before he really even realized it. "Not much for anything sweet myself." he gave a shrug as he spoke, but stood and pulled her up off the floor where she'd been sitting. "But there was a shit ton of other stuff in there. Reckon it won't matter if it's eaten."

"You're still hungry?" Brianne asked, gaping at the man as she wondered where he put all the food he seemed to be able to eat in one sitting. He'd eaten almost 3 plates earlier. And it hadn't slowed up his alcohol consumption either.

"Little bit, yeah." Daryl answered, surprising himself when his fingers laced through hers in the dimly lit hallway as they walked down it. "Heard Lori and Shane goin at it earlier. Reckon Rick has no idea what's goin on with 'em."

"He doesn't and it kills me. Like I've never kept anything from my brother. I don't want to keep this… But I also don't want to tell him, either. I mean they were having problems before he went into the coma, they're barely getting along now. You've heard them fighting… I just don't think… Even with all their fighting, I think if I told Rick that Lori and Shane got together while he was practically on his death bed, he'd still stay with her." Brianne sighed quietly, taking a long sip of the rum bottle in her right hand.

"To be fair, ya don't really know if anything happened, either."

"Exactly. I mean for all I know, they just got close. That would've been enough for me, before..." Brianne started to say, stopping in mid sentence. Daryl eyed her and asked, "Before what?"

Brianne knew exactly what she was two seconds away from blurting out, her feelings for Daryl and how they'd popped up and taken over, but she also knew that she liked having him as a friend too and she didn't want to risk losing that… Or just being rejected in general.

For all she knew, they'd kissed a few times and it was probably heat of the moment… Hell, he might even regret it. She was so damn afraid of asking that she tried her best not to bring up anything that might be even a little awkward or seem pushy or forward.

"Before I realized what an asshole Shane Walsh really was." Brianne said it quickly. Something in her eyes the second she said it made Daryl doubt that it was really what she wanted to say, but like Brianne, he didn't push it either… Because his thing about getting attached to someone, especially with the world being the way it was now. Instead, he nodded and then said quietly, "Yeah." as he took a huge swig of the alcohol in the bottle in his hand.

They stepped into the kitchen, Brianne asked him, "What do you want?"

For a few seconds, Daryl almost blurted out "You." but instead, he shrugged and said "Sandwich, whatever. Don't really matter." as he watched her gathering things, moving quietly around the kitchen from where he stood leaned in the doorway.

She was singing again, another song she sang a lot, the last time he'd asked about it she'd told him it was some song by a guy named Ed Sheeran or something… Again, it was another kind of music that Daryl wasn't fond of or familiar with.

He moved to stand leaned against the counter while she was making the sandwich and at one point, she turned, they were standing thisclose all over again and their eyes were locked on each other again. His eyes slowly roamed downward, lingering on her lips.

Brianne's eyes, he noticed, were doing the same.

Before he realized what in the hell he was doing, he'd sat her on the little island counter in the middle of the kitchen space and her legs were wrapping around his hips, her fingers sliding through his hair. The overhead light switched on and the two sprang apart when Rick coughed from the doorway, looking from one to the other, a puzzled sort of look on his face.

Brianne felt her entire face heating up and she bit her kiss swollen lips as she finally found the will to talk and breathe again, because the intensity in the way Daryl's lips found hers and nipped at them had definitely taken her breath away just then.. She finally asked her brother, "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nope. What about you, Brie?"

"Nope."

He stared at his sister and the man with the volatile temper. He wasn't sure what to think about what he'd just walked in on and he still didn't entirely understand what finally got through to his little sister about how Shane wasn't a good guy; how he definitely wasn't good enough for her in Rick's opinion.

Rick hadn't ever told his friend or sister this, but he very much felt it.

"Just friends, huh?" he asked Daryl while Brianne was throwing together a sandwich for him and out of ear shot. Daryl gave him a calm look and then answered, "Girl like 'er ain't gon ever get attached to the likes o' me. Don't go getting yer panties in a twist, Rick Grimes." as he flashed a slight smirk, seeming that he wasn't bothered by any of it, trying to make it appear as if he were used to this sort of thing, when the opposite was very much true.

He'd never just found himself kissing a woman at will. For the most part, he tended to keep that part of himself closed off. It was proving to be a harder thing to do with Brianne though. Every time she walked in a room, he had to fight the urge to go to her.

He had to remind himself that if the world was normal they would've never even crossed paths in the first place unless they met in a bar and had a one night thing…

And from what little he'd gotten to know about Brianne, she really didn't seem like that kind of girl.

So most likely, their paths would never have crossed.

"She got attached to Shane." Rick mused to himself, the words making Daryl look at him with a raised brow as he asked, "Thought you and officer piggy were best buddies?"

"We're partners. We were best friends..." Rick started, suddenly realizing that he wasn't even sure when or why entirely, that he'd started to be wary of his friend Shane Walsh. He gave a shrug and dropped the subject. He didn't know this guy from a hole in the ground, he wasn't going to give the guy leverage to start shit between the group and create tensions.

Even though the tensions were already there.

Daryl eyed Rick but didn't ask anything else. Rick nodded to his sister and then admitted quietly, "I just never thought Shane Walsh was good enough for my sister. I knew how he treated the girls he went out with… As far as you go… Not sure about you yet."

"Told ya… Nothin to worry about. It ain't like she wants me."

"Yet I walk in on the two of you about to do whatever on the kitchen counter… And you're always around her. I think, Dixon, that you're lying to yourself. And I'm pretty sure I know how my sister feels… She doesn't just randomly kiss men she barely knows."

"Have you know, Rick Grimes, she stayed with my brother n me almost a month before we ever showed up to the camp."

"I rest my case. You barely know each other."

"I know enough." Daryl grumbled, finishing off his sandwich. Rick chuckled and then with a yawn left the room, presumably to go find Lori and smooth things over and then go back to bed.

Daryl wandered over to Brianne, who was sitting on top of one of the counters, the ice cream container and a spoon in front of her, eyes shut and the most blissful look Daryl had ever seen her give on her face. For a few seconds, he stood there, watching her, his mind sort of taking what happened, the way they'd been kissing yet again and ran a whole other direction with it.

When she groaned as a spoonful of the ice cream slipped past her lips, he burst into laughter and joked quietly, "Want me to leave the two of ya alone?"

Brianne blushed and flipped Daryl off, skimming the spoon across the ice cream, holding the spoon out to him. He eyed it and then her, and that pout came. Grumbling, he guided the spoon to his lips, his hand over the hand of hers that held the spoon and took a bite of the ice cream, his eyes fixed firmly on her eyes.

"It's amazing, right?"

"It's too sweet." Daryl muttered as Brianne shrugged and then said, "Well, I like it."

He leaned in, his hand rested tangled in her hair and his lips tasted like Johnny Red and chocolate ice cream when they met her lips again. "This isn't… The way we keep doing this, Daryl.. It's not awkward?"

He deepened the kiss to silence her mostly. It wasn't awkward but he also didn't honestly know how to bring up the subject they both seemed to keep expertly avoiding either.

Because talking about it; that meant that lines were crossed, that things couldn't just roll back to the way they'd been at first, that they'd have a label and a whole bunch of other things… And Daryl just didn't know how to say what he felt.

He'd never been good at vocalizing his emotions. Showing them seemed to work better; it was easier for him.

Shane stood in the doorway, watching them as he fumed in quiet anger. Brianne never kissed him like that. Even from where he stood hidden from view he could tell the difference in the way she kissed Daryl Dixon and the way she'd kissed him when he had her and threw it all away on Lori.

He stormed off, going into his room. He was still furious, he and Lori had just had a fight. And then he'd heard Daryl and Brianne in the kitchen, talking quietly.

It could've been him.

He'd thrown it away.

Brianne put the container of ice cream back into the freezer and then turned to Daryl, stretching and stifling a yawn. "So, umm… Merle is in Andrea's room with her..." she ventured. Daryl nodded and then said quietly, "Yep."

"I could come to your room and let them be alone… I think Merle being in there with her would be better than me.. She seems to come alive a little more where he's concerned." Brianne blurted out, looking up at Daryl, biting her lip as she did so.

"If you want to." Daryl answered as the two of them walked down the hall and towards the room he and Merle had started out sharing.

* * *

I'm so shocked right now, I have like 18 reviews, 30 favorites and 44 follows which is way beyond what I actually expected this story to do when I originally posted it. And all the encouragement, you guys are too sweet to me! I love you so much! Sorry I am only just posting this update, but I was a busy girl Friday. And I was exhausted when I finally got in! I put a ton of fluff / kind of sexiness into this chapter. It's mostly meant to be a filler chapter.

And I had to go there, because awkward moments are so much fun to write. So yeah, Rick walks in on them kissing. There wasn't much Merle and Andrea in this chapter, but don't worry, they're going to be in the story a lot. You guys might even get sick of seeing them. I just loved the idea of them and reading several excellent fanfiction drabbles online about them didn't help any.

I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY THIS CHAPTER!


	14. The Next Morning

The Next Morning

She must have fallen asleep in the room that Merle and Daryl were supposedly sharing. She realized this as soon as she'd woken up, barely managing to wiggle free from Daryl Dixon's death grip on her body. She pulled the blankets back over him and quietly, she opened the door, tiptoeing down to the room she was supposedly going to share with Andrea the night before. She knocked quietly, when Merle finally let her in, she grabbed a pair of jeans and a white tank top, a thin red shirt to go over the tank top and she walked into the bathroom to get dressed for breakfast.

"I'm never drinking Malibu Rum again. My head is killing me." Brianne groaned a little, digging around until she found an Advil in her makeup case. She took that, washed it down with some water and then washed off her face a little, fixing it so that her makeup wasn't running or smudged anymore. From the other side, the bathroom door opened from the next room and Brianne grumbled as she saw Lori standing in the doorway, watching her.

"Almost done."

"How was your night?" Lori asked. Brianne eyed her with a raised brow and shrugged. "Raided the kitchen with Daryl since neither of us could sleep… I heard the most interesting thing, though, when I was walking around… Trouble in paradise, Lori?" Brianne asked, watching her sister in law's face, waiting for a reaction. Lori's eyes widened and she shut the door behind her.

"What did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you've really got yourself into it this time, Lori. But not enough to tell my brother that you two had anything going on while he was laying in a hospital dying and thought to be dead… But if I had more to go on? Bet your ass I'd be telling my brother, Lori." Brianne smirked as she turned to walk out, stopping in the doorway to tell Lori, "I didn't need a shower… I wasn't that dirty, I didn't do anything to **get dirty** last night… If you need one, Lori, there should be plenty of hot water."

The door to the bathroom that lead into the room Brianne and Andrea were using slammed shut in her sister in law's wake and Lori gaped at it for a few seconds. Not only had she never realized just how little Brianne actually liked her before now, Brianne never would have said those things to her before now either.

She'd have held it all in. It seemed to Lori as if the Grimes family was good at holding their emotions in, hiding when things upset them or made them angry. But apparently, Brianne was changing now. Lori wasn't entirely thrilled with the changes, either… Because Brianne didn't even bother veiling her contempt now.

Brianne had just gotten her hair dry enough to let it finish drying naturally when the door was knocked on loudly. Brianne opened it, found Daryl standing out in the hallway, leaned against the wall.

"You get up early."

"I got used to it before the world went to shit. Now it doesn't matter what I try, I cannot sleep late to save my life." Brianne admitted as she stepped into the hallway, shutting the door behind her. Merle and Andrea were already down in the dining area with most of the others. Brianne's stomach growled loudly and Daryl raised a brow and commented, "You shouldn't be hungry, woman, you ate half a damn carton of ice cream."

"Empty calories." Brianne commented as she slid her hand into his, lacing her fingers through his fingers. Daryl gave a hidden smirk when he knew she couldn't see it and then coughed as he said casually, "Remember when you said you'd cut my hair?"

"Yeah. Do you want me to?"

"Well I don't want to look like no damn woman… Guess so." Daryl shrugged as Brianne gave him a smile and then nodded. "After breakfast… Hey, did you notice that the AC kicked on and off way more than it should've last night?"

"I did." Daryl answered as they made their way into the dining area, sitting down at the table with Merle and Andrea and T Dogg and Glenn, everyone was giving Glenn literal hell because he had the worst hangover of his life.

"Won't drink again, will you?"

"No. Never. That was… It was the worst." Glenn answered, gritting his teeth at the pain from his hangover. "This was my first, last and only hangover."

"That's what everybody says, kid." T Dogg taunted his friend as Glenn scooped a spoon full of eggs into his mouth and grumbled what sounded like "Fuck you." while he chewed.

Under the table, Daryl felt Brianne's hand resting on his leg casually and he almost choked on a mouth full of his own food. He ignored that look that his brother Merle gave him, and the remark that came after, but he did notice that when the remark was made that Brianne's entire face turned this deep shade of pink.

"Aww, I reckon I made 'er blush." Merle taunted the brunette, his brother giving him a low growl and a warning kick to the shin beneath the table. Andrea poked at her eggs, Merle started to shake his head, sighing quietly as he prodded the blonde and grumbled, "Iff'n yer not gon eat that, blondie."

"Go ahead."

"Yer gon have to eat sooner or later."

"I just don't have an appetite, Merle."

"That don't matter, blondie."

"Don't start on me, okay?" Andrea hissed, turning away, looking at the wall, focusing, trying to will herself not to fall apart again. It was just hard to move on, bounce back… She'd just lost the only family she had left.

She wound up going to sit by Jacqui and Carol while the others ate and talked happily. She just didn't see the point anymore, honestly… Why keep going?

She had nothing left and the little fight she had disappeared when she had to empty two bullets into her reanimated sister's skull.

"I'm sorry about Amy."

"So am I."

Andrea gave a small and polite nod and then said quietly, "I'm sorry about you having to do that to Ed."

Carol could only nod in response. Because deep down, one of her longest going prayers had gotten answered… The thing that worried her, though, was how evil it had been, to wish the man dead as many times as she had… and then she had to kill him after he'd been bitten and he reanimated.

She couldn't help but wonder if she'd be punished for that somewhere down the line. The air conditioning kicked off again and Dr. Jenner tensed when someone asked him about it. "It's probably just not used to being on so much..."

There was something about the way he said the words that made Rick think that h ewas definitely hiding something from them but instead of pursuing it over breakfast, he made a mental note to ask later… What had him more confused, however, was the way Shane was acting… Lori would barely look at him and when he looked at her, Rick couldn't help but notice that Lori scooted even closer to him, almost like Shane had scared her somehow.

"Where'd you get those scars, Shane?"

"Must've done it in the shower." Shane answered quickly, shoveling a mouth full of eggs in as he did so, careful to keep his gaze down on his plate.

He'd almost done the worst thing last night, something he'd never have thought he'd ever do, in sheer desperation.

The group finished breakfast and the kids went off to the game room again. Lori and Rick went back to their room and Rick started asking Lori where she'd been at the night before. They started to argue and Brianne rolled her eyes at the door seperating her room from her brother and his wife's room. Sliding off the bed, she walked out, Merle walked into the room.

"She's not any better than she was when we all left breakfast, Merle. Be nice. Not a dick. She did just lose her sister." Brianne lectured the older man. Merle shrugged and then said quietly, "She actin like she wants to give up to you, Brianne?"

"That's what scares me… I can't tell what's going on in her head right now… But I know how she feels. I felt that way the first f ew days after I thought Rick was dead… Just don't push anything… Give her space, Merle… Like you and Daryl gave me."

"I'm gon do that.. Just not so much that she kin kill 'erself if she gets it in 'er head."

"Dale was worried about her earlier too."

"That sumbitch is fuckin nosy. Into everybody's shit. Asked me a thousand questions about you and Daryl last week after we got to that campground." Merle grumbled, the jealousy in his tone where Andrea was concerned was evident and Brianne didn't honestly think Merle cared to hide it, either. Brianne walked down the hall and was about to knock on the door to the room that Daryl and Merle started off intending to share, instead, Daryl opened it. he'd obviously been going to walk around again, look for a place to smoke in privacy.

"Wanna walk around?"

"Not like I got anythin better to do." Daryl muttered as he dug around in his pockets for the cigarettes and a lighter. Brianne found his hand again, slipping her hand into it.

"Your brother's really close to Andrea, huh?"

"That or he's bored, wants to get in 'er panties. Never know with Merle." Daryl answered, holding her gaze for a good minute or two.

"He's taking it upon himself to sit in our room. He said something about being worried she might try and hurt or kill herself."

"That'd be a first." Daryl admitted quietly. " Him bein worried about somebody he don't know, I meant." Daryl added quickly, grabbing a door before they went through it. Brianne smiled up at him a little and nodded in agreement. "Maybe that's a good thing..."

"Don't know." Daryl answered. They turned a corner in the hallway and he took out his cigarettes. The air conditioning kicked on and Brianne moved to sit down beside him on a forgotten table. The silence between them wasn't overbearing, that was the good thing about them, she'd realized, that they could sit in silence and it didn't matter.

She just felt good knowing he was sitting there with her.

If she vocalized any feelings she might have for him, she reminded herself, she'd surely lose that feeling and she just didn't want to.

Her hand found the top of his and rested over it. He asked quietly, "Regretting that rum last night?"

"I actually had a bitching hangover. I forgot what Malibu does to me." Brianne answered, asking Daryl the same question. He shrugged and chuckled as he reminded her, "Didn't get offa my face drunk so I wouldn't know."

"Fuck you, Dixon."

He chuckled, tried to shove the thoughts he was having currently about that very thing out of his mind… The sexual tension was enough, he reminded himself, and he didn't want to say something, push too far, lose a person he went from only tolerating to liking to caring about deeply.

"Such a dirty mouth you have."

"I didn't before all this." Brianne admitted quietly, staring at her hot pink and badly chipped polished toenails. "I was this passive little pushover..." she shrugged and then said quietly, "Truth be told, it's more freeing, being this way now. Pressure's off… On some things."

"I bet it is." Daryl answered as he found the urge to say something, do something becoming a little more hard to resist than he initially thought...

* * *

I just want to thank you all so much, your encouragement and all the favorites and follows and reviews mean everything to me and they're a huge reason I've kept going as long as I have. Before I posted this, I thought people were going to hate it, that it was going to be badly OOC (i can admit, it's possibly a good deal OOC, i mean Daryl's just not a fast moving guy, but I'm really trying NOT to move things in an unbelievably fast manner) and that people were just going to hate it... Or it wouldn't be that great. So I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for reviewing and favoriting and following the story. It's blown me away, it really has!

This chapter has a little more of everyone in it, it's the second day at the CDC. Nothing sexual happened with Daryl and Brianne, yet. That's going to come later on... For now it's just them being friends who flirt and make out and have sexual tension, heavy sexual tension between them. I've actually considered posting a drabble series for the two main couples in this story (Daryl x OC & Merle x Andrea) based on different prompts and things I find and I might actually do that at a later point, when this story is further along. I'm making big changes to the storyline of the show (obviously, because Merle isn't AWOL in this one) so hopefully people will stick with it in light of that.

ENJOY! THERES FLUFF HERE!


	15. Fights And Brawls

That Night

It was hot. Brianne fanned herself as she leaned in the refridgerator in the kitchen area of the CDC compound, trying to decide between a late night sandwich or the remainder of the ice cream in the freezer. Everyone else had probably long since gone to sleep but Brianne just hadn't been able to. She'd had a lot on her mind, after Dr. Jenner showed them the information he had on TS 19 and everything just went from "if you don't think about it then it does not exist" to b level horror movie real.

She was possibly a little shell shocked at the knowledge that if one of those diseased and disgusting corpses rotting out on the lawn of the CDC were to bite her, she'd become one of them in a matter of literal minutes. And not just her, either, she suddenly realized with frightening clarity that it could happen to anyone she really cared about or loved… It could happen to Rick or Carl, it could happen to Daryl.. The thought of it happening to either of the three of them had her visibly shaken and she'd went on to try and attempt sleep and she had this hellacious nightmare that had woken her right back up maybe an hour into falling asleep.

When she'd woken up, the air conditioning still hadn't kicked on.

So the combination of heat and nightmare fuel and her own fears currently were what bought her down to the kitchen for the second night in a row for a late night snack and maybe some warm tea if she could find it.

She'd just put the finishing touches on a turkey sandwich and was on the counter nosing around in the cabinets that lined the walls for what she hoped would be some kind of tea or something to settle her down and maybe put her to sleep when Shane spoke up from the doorway.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

She pretended not to hear him at first, but he only repeated his question and stepped into the kitchen. When she turned around after having found the box of herbal tea bags in the third cabinet she looked in, she came body to body with Shane. He said quietly, "We need to have an actual talk."

"No, Shane, you need to leave me alone, okay?" Brianne attempted to shoot any conversation attempt he might make down, but the look in his eyes, she couldn't just be that heartless… And no matter how much she resented what he'd done to her time and time again, how much she tried to make herself utterly hate him, she'd known him too long, been through too much with him to completely hate him.

"Just let me say something, okay?" Shane nodded to a stool in front of the kitchen island. Brianne gave a grumble and after getting a cup, filling it with water and microwaving it for a few seconds, she put her tea bag into the cup and sat down at the stool.

Her mind went back to the night before, the way she and Daryl were in here, together, talking and eating and how right and good and normal it felt. How she felt no pressure, no bad tension or vibes whenever she was with Daryl.

How she felt keyed up and awkward and tense and kind of afraid of being alone with Shane right now. She wasn't an idiot, she knew exactly how he'd gotten the marks on the side of his neck. And she'd heard Lori sort of telling Jacqui about it earlier because Jacqui had actually seen them in the room.

Suddenly, she just wasn't too sure how she felt about him being around her and her being alone in a room with him.

"I looked for you…"

"You still left me behind. You didn't fight, Shane, it was just like me telling you off that day was enough. You didn't even try to get me to come to you, you didn't threaten to come to me and drag me back to you… If you really loved me..." Brianne started, taking a sip of her tea, looking at him briefly and then looking down at her tea cup.

"You stopped fighting too, Brianne."

"I didn't! Not until the morning I left. But I should have… After last year." Brianne held his gaze and then said quietly, "Because you didn't even care how much it killed me when I told you that I wasn't pregnant. Or how much it killed me when you told me you didn't want kids." before dropping her gaze again.

Shane sucked in a breath and rubbed his hand through his hair. "I was freaked out."

" Yeah, well, you got what you wanted, huh?" Brianne said quietly, sipping her tea as she looked at him and then added, "Because I actually was pregnant. But after our big fight, I got stressed, the stress caused me to lose the baby. So you got your way. I can't help but wonder though, Shane, if Lori had been the one telling you she was pregnant… Would you have taken it differently?"

Shane gaped at her as what she said registered with him. "Brianne, hon… Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you made it clear how you felt. I didn't figure you'd care. I was afraid that if I told you, you'd be happy you dodged some kind of bullet and then I'd have to live with that." Brianne admitted quietly, feeling a lot lighter with everything she told him.

It had been a long time coming.

"I wouldn'ta. I mean I'd have tried, somethin." Shane shrugged, he truthfully didn't know how he'd have reacted and he was angry that she hadn't bothered to tell him because it was something huge and she'd just lived with it, kept it to herself.

Because she was afraid of him taking it well.

When he could look at her now, reliving it as she told him, and clearly see that it had been hell for her then.

"No, Shane, you wouldn't have. You didn't when I finally stopped fighting so hard to keep us together and just started to distance. You didn't even notice until the day I finally snapped and left.. I was gone, Shane, one hell of a lot longer than that. I checked out after that fight. I just didn't leave because I was too damn scared to be alone." Brianne said the words calmly and carefully but she saw his fists clenching in anger.

"You got the wrong idea."

"Do I? Who did I wind up coming to the quarry with, Shane? Because it sure as shit wasn't you. You were too fucking worried about princess Lori to be bothered."

"That Daryl asshole… he's the reason yer thinkin like this." Shane snapped angrily, glaring at Brianne. When he saw the anger in her own eyes as she stared back at him, it made him even more jealous than he had been previously. It made him want to go and find Daryl and beat the living hell out of him for taking Brianne from him.

Had he been thinking more sanely, he'd probably have known that the fault was his own. But he wasn't doing much of that these days, he was losing everything, damn it, and he was getting sicker of it by the minute.

"Daryl is not an asshole. He's done more to show that he cares about someone other than himself than you've ever done in your entire life, Shane. He didn't have to pick me up off the side of the road. He didn't have to take me in. He didn't have to take me to see my brother in the hospital just to know if Rick were okay, if he'd gotten out… Because he could've gotten himself and his brother killed, Shane, the day he did it… He didn't have to awkwardly hug me while I cried over the whole shit show with you AND finding out my brother was probably dead. But he did.. and so help me God, Shane, if you don't stop fucking threatening him and Merle, I'll make sure your little thing with Lori comes to Rick's attention."

Shane gaped at her and she stood up, put her tea cup in the sink and said quietly, "I'm just done. I'm tired of this, all of it. I know I won't ever have Daryl, but if I can have his friendship, Shane, that's a thousand times better than anything you've had to offer for the past few years. I'll take it and deal with my extra feelings in my own way."

Shane stopped her before she could go out the d oor and blocked off her exit.

"Gonna try and do to me what you tried to do to Lori last night now? I wouldn't advise that, Shane.. You're not fucking with the timid and meek as a church mouse Brianne Grimes anymore… You're fucking with the Brianne Grimes who isn't afraid to grab your cock and twist it and possibly feed it to you."

"How the hell… Did Lori tell you that shit? It ain't true!"

"Say those fingernail marks on your neck. You've just sort of devolved. It's disgusting. You used to be a decent guy when we first got together… But over time, Shane, I've just sort of found myself wondering how the hell you kept me fooled this long." Brianne said quietly. He grabbed her wrist, she stomped his foot and shoved past him, storming out of the kitchen and down the hallway.

And past Merle Dixon, who unknown to her, had just gotten an ear full on how Brianne really felt about his little brother. "Well hell… Color me shocked as shit." he muttered to himself as he waited to see if Shane was going to step out in the hallway.

When he did, he stepped right into a full strength punch from the good hand of Merle Dixon. Shane grabbed the man and the fight started in the hallway. And in the process, it woke damn near everyone up, Daryl included.

Brianne had gotten into her room when she heard all sorts of noises in the hallway. Carl knocked on his aunts door. "Aunt Brie! Shane's got your boyfriend in a chokehold!" Carl called through the door. Rick ran down the hall towards the fight.

Brianne did the same and when she got there, she groaned inwardly before shoving through the gathered crowd and in between Shane who was about to try and grab Daryl again and choke him. Daryl was fighting back, the two were about to lunge.

Rick got the three man brawl in the hallway broken up but not without a little brute force of his own, having to basically punch his former partner and longtime best friend Shane to get him even a little bit close to rational again and away from the Dixon brothers.

Brianne grabbed Daryl's hand quickly, practically dragging him down the hall despite every protest he made and any grumbling he did between here and there. Once they were in the room she'd been sharing with Andrea, she gently pushed him down onto her bed so that he was sitting on the edge and wincing, she shook her head, swearing, pissed as she'd been in a long time at Shane and threatening to go back out and kick him in the balls so hard that he swallowed one of them.

Daryl burst into laughter and said casually, "This ain't nothin… I been in worse. Shane hits like a little bitch."

"Yeah, well, that little bitch busted your nose. And apparently, he managed to bust your lip too. I'm cleaning it out."

She slid onto the edge of his lap, taking a white rag, the peroxide that he bitched about every time she had to use it to sterilize any wound she noticed that he'd get while in the woods or fishing, and pressing the rag gently to his lip.

"Fuck! Fuckin stings!" Daryl growled as he glared at her a second, the glare softening slightly. She leaned in after removing the rag and gently blew on his busted lip. "You shouldn'ta gotten in the middle of us." Daryl muttered quietly, holding her gaze.

"Yeah, well, I did. I knew that asshole was going to try something as soon as I said what I did to him. Ughh. I swear to God it's like he's lost his entire damn mind."

"Mighta never had it to start with."

"Ya know, the more I think about it, Daryl, the more I'm starting to agree… He fucking freaked me out earlier."

Daryl's body stiffened as he asked in an almost too calm voice, "How's 'at?"

"Tried to stop me from walking out on a conversation just a few minutes ago. I don't think he liked it when I stomped on his foot, shoved him out of my way and left the room anyway." Brianne admitted, looking at Daryl.

"What'd you say to 'im?"

"Nothing… He was just trying to sweet talk me and I was just telling him that even if Hell froze over tomorrow I'd still be done with him." Brianne answered quickly… She wanted to tell Daryl every single thing she'd told Shane, verbatim… But she was too afraid of losing even his friendship or making things too awkward between them to do it.

"How the hell did Merle wind up fighting with Shane in the first place, I wonder?" Daryl wondered aloud as Brianne shrugged and then said "I don't know… he might have went to go grab himself another bottle of alcohol or something after I left and knowing Shane, he was still in there having a bitch fit over our conversation."

"And he probably popped off at Merle again." Daryl guessed, wondering more and more what the hell exactly had happened in the kitchen minutes before the fight broke out in the hallway… He'd have to ask Merle later.

And probably beat the hell out of Shane if he didn't like what Merle told him.

Rick knocked on the door and Brianne pulled it open. "What?"

"Shane told me you guys had a fight… How the hell did Merle Dixon wind up in the middle?"

"It beats the hell out of me… I mean unless he saw when Shane lost his fucking mind for a second and grabbed me to try and keep me in the room."

"Was he trying to fix things?" Rick asked, brow raised. "Because I told him that he needed to try and talk to you."

"Rick, damn it, look… I love you, big brother… But I am one hundred and one percent done with Shane Walsh. I just wish I'd have realized what an actual bag of dicks he was BEFORE I spent four years involved with him."

"What did he do to you? I mean I know what Lori told me she thinks is the problem."

"Rick, don't, okay? Just don't scratch that wall… Please. Tension, especially right now, it's a very bad idea… Iwill say that you shouldn't trust him… He's in a bad place. And it's only going to get worse. I mean lately, I've seen him do things I never thought..." Brianne trailed off.

There was so much temptation to just tell her brother everything… But she didn't want to be the reason that her brother and Shane wound up hating one another. She just wanted the fuck out of anything dealing with Shane Walsh, honestly.

Once Rick finally got convinced that Brianne was okay, that the fight would not be a repeat performance and once he stood there just watching Daryl warily like a very overprotective father for about five minutes, he left the room and Brianne closed the door behind him.

"Why didn't ya just tell 'im what Shane and his wife have been doin?"

"Because that would kill him, Daryl… He and Lori were having problems before and he's happy again, he's smiled more since he came back than he has in a very long time… I can't… I won't be the one who breaks his heart like that." Brianne said quietly as she shook her head.

"Yer okay, right? That sumbitch didn't.."

"What? Oh nooo… He scared me a little, didn't hurt me or anything. I didn't stick around long enough for him to try it. And if he had, I'd probably have just punched him."

"Stay the fuckin hell away from the sumbitch when yer alone." Daryl gave the command with a firm look in his eyes as he held her gaze and found himself leaning into her.

"Yes s ir." Brianne teased as she looked up at him, found herself inching closer and then said "And you and Merle need to watch out. He's going to start being an even bigger bag of dicks now, apparently."

"We'll handle 'im. Fucking pansy he is."

"If he busts your nose again, he's gonna have me to deal with. I don't like it when people fuck around with my friends or my family." Brianne said as Daryl chuckled and fluffed her hair, shaking his head. "After that, I'm goin for a smoke."

"Oh damn.. I forgot my sandwich."

"Turkey?"

"Mhmm."

"Maybe it's still there." Daryl said as they walked out of the room and started towards the kitchen again.

* * *

Oh wow, I really cannot fathom like how many people actually seem to like this story or at least find it a little interesting! so far there's 20 reviews, 63 follows and 41 favorites which totally blows my mind and I love you guys so much you have no idea even! thanks so much for the support and everything and you've definitely kept me inspired and encouraged. Sorry there wasn't an update yesterday, I had to sort of sit back, think about what I wanted to do with it next and the above chapter is what I came up with.

So Merle now knows EXACTLY how Brianne feels about Daryl. And this is just me both giving closure to the chapter in Brianne's life that Shane was in and giving them their whole fight, because he hasn't been the antagonistic shit that he probably would've been, and I decided what the hell, why not have a brawl. They tied up a lot before Shane got killed anyway, this just kind of gives thing yet another meaning and reason. Lori still got almost attacked by Shane. To be honest, I'm not sure if he wouldn't have attempted it with Brianne too, because for a few minutes there when I started to write this chapter it certainly seemed like he was heading that way. Some fluff in here, Rick being an overprotective big brother too.

I hope you guys like this chapter. I love you all, you're amazing and kind. *Hugs you all*


	16. Leaving The CDC

The Next Day

"If you don't stop fidgeting, Daryl, you're going to look like you got into a fight with a tree trimmer. So skittish. You wanted me to cut your hair." Brianne instructed for what had to be the sixth or seventh time in less than ten minutes. Daryl grumbled and then said quietly, "Easy fer you ta say, yer the one holdin the damn scissors."

"I won't cut you."

Daryl knew she wouldn't, but he wasn't used to this; whatever it was they were doing, either. And he couldn't deal with his feelings, one minute he was wanting to let it all pour out, the next, he was grumpy and irritated with himself for going and getting attached to her, because nothing ever seemed to go right for him. It hadn't in the past, he'd be an idiot to expect it to now… And then there was his childhood, how the hell was he supposed to know how to show another person how he felt when it overwhelmed him most the time because he'd never felt that way before?

He wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand and asked, "It getting hot in here to you?"

"The air still isn't on.. When Jacqui asked Dr. Jenner about it earlier, she said he acted weird and quickly made a retreat. There's something off about that guy." Brianne admitted, leaning in from where she sat on the edge of his lap to brush some fallen hair off his forehead. "You'll be cooler in a few minutes if you'll just be still."

"I better not look like no girly man."

"Oh my god, would you relax?" Brianne teased gently, reminding him, "Hello, I did do this for a living before the world went to shit?"

"And?"

"And, maybe, Daryl, I know what I'm doing."

"Yer one ta talk about relax. Saw a spider that was maybe as big as the tip of my finger and yer screamin like a banshee, tryin ta run out of yer room in a towel."

"Yeah, well I didn't expect to look up and find Satan's pet spider perched in the corner of my shower. This is the CDC, you'd think they'd be pest free."

"Ain't no exterminators anymore, guess."

"But you totally slayed that spider. My hero." Brianne teased him gently, laughing while blushing. Daryl grumbled, finally giving another of his favorite shrugs, smirking. Brianne stood, grabbing the silver handled mirror to hand to him so he could see that he didn't look girly or anything.

"Not bad."

"Pfft, that was a good haircut. I thought it'd be sloppy, given I haven't gotten to do it much lately. I'll probably have to do Carl's later." Brianne commented as she fanned herself and then swore about the heat in the building. "If I didn't know any better I'd almost swear the guy was intentionally trying to cook us."

"Well, he didn't seem like he had all his marbles."

Merle barged in, looking for Andrea. Brianne nodded to the bathroom and then said "She took a shower. What the hell did you do earlier, Dixon? She stormed in here furious."

"Told 'er she needed ta snap outta it before she gets 'erself killed."

"Merle, damn it… You literally have like no finesse." Brianne assessed, Merle smirked and then said casually, "Might not have whatever the fuck ya just said, sug-" his voice trailed off as he felt his brother glaring at him, saying quickly, "Brianne, but I do know thangs."

"Everybody 'knows things.'" Brianne told Merle, an unamused look on her face. "Apologize to that woman. She tolerates you… And even in this kind of world, that's hard for your old stubborn ass to come by."

"She's lucky I like 'er." Merle joked with his brother, Daryl was mostly just observing the way she actually did try to get along with him a little. His brother was an important person to him so deep down, even though he was not about to admit it, the fact that Brianne actually made an effort only made those feelings he dared not name grow a little more.

"Back at you, old grump." Brianne muttered as she flopped onto her bed and then said aloud, "I swear to God he has the heat on. Like how in the fucking hell can it be this hot in this building?" as she fanned herself with one of her old lingerie magazines.

Daryl coughed; he'd been staring and her talking to him sort of caught him off guard. "Let's go find out what the hell is goin on?"

"Let's do."

"Bastard better not be up to somethin." Daryl grumbled in irritation. They were walking past Rick and Lori's room and Rick stepped out and asked, "Have either of you felt the air coming on at all?"

"Hell no. I think the crazy fuck has the heat going. There's something off about the way he was acting earlier." Brianne told her brother as Rick nodded and then asked, "What in the name of God were you shrieking about out here a little while ago."

"Oh nothing, just Satan's pet spider decided to hop in the shower with me. Daryl killed it."

Rick eyed Daryl, still not sure how to feel about the guy. He barely knew him, but from what he'd seen of him around his sister, he wasn't as bad as Shane was trying to make him believe.

"We'll go down and talk to Dr. Jenner in a little bit." Rick told Daryl, not sure why he was taking the risk. But Shane was a loose canon lately, anyone could see it. And he just felt like something huge happened while he'd been in a coma because Shane and Lori were tense, there were the looks he'd seen Shane giving her, the way she was picking fights with him.

The changes to Brianne, he actually sort of liked. She wasn't letting people step all over her. She used to be the worst about it.

Daryl eyed Rick, not sure how to take him asking if he'd walk down with him. Shane was supposed to be his second in command or whatever. He was just the guy who spent too much time with a kid sister that Rick seemed to be very protective of.

"Guess so." Daryl shrugged, trying not to read too much into everything. Guy was probably just getting smart at last, realizing Shane was about to take a long trip on the crazy train. Daryl still owed him a beat down from the night before, when Brianne had been alone in the kitchen with him and he'd tried to stop her from leaving.

They were walking around the compound a few seconds later when they heard Dr. Jenner in his office, talking to himself. Brianne raised a brow, Daryl tiptoed closer to the door. Brianne was leaning on him from behind, ear almost pressed to the door as Daryl strained to hear.

"Somebody in there with 'im?"

"No, I mean everyone is in their rooms as far as I know."

"Told ya he was screwier 'n hell."

"I never actually argued your point. I kind of agreed, remember?" Brianne countered, the two of them going to go and find Rick so Rick could go and talk to him like he'd been planning to earlier.

Rick and Daryl went down to find out what the hell was up with Dr. Jenner and Brianne wandered around on her own for a little bit, bumping into Sophia and Carl, Carl grabbing hold of her hand, dragging her into a room that Brianne had no doubt that her nephew would permanently take up residence if he could.

"We're playing Need for Speed."

"That's the game I kept trying to play and totally messing up… Right?"

Carl held out his controller and climbed onto the back of the sofa in the room, Brianne sitting down beside Sophia where he'd been sitting. She got into the game, yelling at the television when she wrecked, pouting.

"Aunt Brie, did you seriously just stomp your foot?"

Daryl stepped into the room and chuckled as he told Carl, "She does it a lot."

"I do not."

"Ya do, woman."

"What'd you find out?"

"Jenner wants us all ta go down to the conference room. Said he's gon show us somethin." Daryl said as Brianne slid off the couch and glared at the paused game. "I'm going to beat that race later."

"The hell were ya doin? That's kid stuff."

"I play video games with my nephew all the time. Or I did."

Carl added from beside his aunt, "And this one time, she bought us both Nerf bows and we were playing war in the house."

Daryl eyed Brianne who shrugged a little. "What? It annoyed Lori, it amused my buddy here, it was a win situation for me." Brianne said as she studied Daryl. For whatever reason she just got this feeling that before the apocalypse, he maybe hadn't had all the normal she'd had as a kid.

And it tugged at her heart and made her decide to herself that somehow she was going to make this grumpy man she cared so much about, possibly even loving him more than she'd thought she loved Shane to begin with, she was going to show Daryl Dixon how to sort of enjoy the little things.

They filed into the conference room and Merle caught his brother's eye, nodded to the screen and mouthed, "France almost got a cure my ass, brother. Dipshits. All of 'em." to which Daryl could only nod in agreement with.

The screen came on and the slides started, showing the breakdown of the brain of a TS 19 infected person. Brianne gaped at the screen but then the footage of the person themselves made her flinch and before she realized what she'd done, she'd instinctively hidden her face in Daryl's chest.

Awkwardly, he put an arm around her, grumbling a little at himself.

"So you don't have a cure?"

Eyes fixed on Dr. Jenner. "I'm sorry, no."

"God damn it, Rick, this was a waste o' time." Shane grumbled aloud as Merle shrugged it off and looked at his brother. They agreed with Shane on this one thing, but beyond that, they hated the guy. Daryl had more than one reason to hate him. Merle hated him because he went out of his way to start shit with his brother.

"We had to try."

"Tryin didn't get us shit."

"At least we did try." Carol spoke up.

"Where are we going to go now?" someone asked and that's when Dr. Jenner dropped his next bombshell, telling them that they'd gotten in, they were getting out alive. That he was going to start a timer and within an hour, if that long, the building was going to blow up.

And Daryl, Merle and Shane all started to destroy the conference room, Daryl had a hammer in his hands and he was about to hit Dr. Jenner with it but Rick managed to somehow get everyone back under control and calmly, he tried to talk Dr. Jenner into letting them all go.

Dr. Jenner refused.

Everyone left the room and went to the conference room down the hall to talk about it amongst themselves.

"We'll get out."

"We better get out. I didn't live this long to fucking die." Brianne grumbled as she looked up at her brother and then at Daryl.

Maybe she and Daryl, Andrea and Merle should've done what Merle suggested and gone their own way when the group started here. But Andrea hadn't wanted to and Brianne didn't want to leave her brother behind because of the mess going on behind his back.

"Oh, he's gon let us out. I'll break every god damn gadget in 'ere. I'll kill the sumbitch if it means I get outta here alive." Merle grumbled as Rick spoke up and then said, "We'll go back in and make him see that we're not going to stay."

"If you need this..." Carol handed him a grenade she'd held on to after washing his clothes right after he'd come to the campground. Rick eyed it and asked, "Where did you find this?"

"In your clothes when I washed them."

"I think we can use it."

They all went back into the room Dr. Jenner sat in, punching in codes into the screens in front of him. At first he kept telling them he wasn't letting them out, that they'd be better off in the compound or dead, but after Rick and Daryl and Shane and everyone else ganged up on him, he relented and gave them a few minutes to get out.

"I'm staying."

T Dogg looked at Jacqui, shocked. "No.."

"I have to stay. I can't… I can't do this, I can't live like this." Jacqui begged. "Just go. Please?"

Andrea spoke up next. "I'm staying behind too."

Merle turned to look at her and Dale tried to start arguing why she needed to come, to get to safety. When he tried to stay too, Merle went over and rather than just let her stay, he threw her over his shoulder, not giving a damn that she was fighting him and swearing and angry.

"Put me down! I don't want to live! I want to die and get it over with, Merle, damn it! Just stop. Dale, go. Leave."

"Andrea.." Brianne started, looking at her friend.

"I'm not cut out for this… you though.." Andrea smiled at her friend and then whispered in her ear, "Don't let that crazy bastard stay." as Daryl spoke up, "We ain't got all damn day." and Brianne told Andrea, "You need to come on. You can't just give up. Amy wouldn't want you to give up. Just come on, let's go."

"You guys go… Take Merle with you, don't leave me to die with that crazy bastard." Andrea said to Brianne as she gently nudged her friend away. "Go. There's nothing left for me. Leave and don't look back. Merle, get your ass out of here now. Dale, damn it, go." Andrea growled at the two men in anger and frustration as she started to tear up.

Merle shook his head and immediately argued her down.

"Oh, I ain't stayin, blondie, yer getting yer ass through the window. If I gotta pick ya up and throw yer ass out. Don't think I won't, woman."

"It's not your place to take her out of here." Dale snapped as he turned to Andrea and then said quietly, "If you're staying, I'm staying."

Both of them looked at Dale in anger and Merle snickered, "It ain't yers either, old man. Pull that shit."

Andrea grumbled as both men were arguing with her, Dale trying to make her to leave with the group with words, Merle just picking her up ultimately, putting her through the window and going out after her.

Daryl was watching the building like a hawk for his brother and he felt relieved when Merle came stormed across the lawn to her car, getting in and Merle got into the passenger seat of Daryl's truck swearing angrily.

"At least you tried. You showed her you cared." Brianne told Merle. "Still pisses me off. Damn crazy woman was gon just stay, let 'erself get blowed to kingdom come." Merle grumbled.

The drive was silent, they were shocked at what they'd learned and what almost happened. At one point, about an hour later, Brianne's hand found Daryl's hand and she laced her fingers through his, leaning against him a little.

Awkwardly, he slid his arm around the seat behind her.

* * *

Oh wow, I'm smiling so big right now, like I have 22 reviews, 51 (how in the.. my writing sucks in my opinion) favorites and 75 follows. I love you guys so much and i thank you from the bottom of my heart for continuing to read and support this. Sorry that people are mildly ooc, but I really am trying. This is just my own take on the characters. Plenty of fluff here, and a lot of MAndrea. I will go down with that actual ship. i wish they'd given it a try. it could've been cool. I hope you guys like this and I'm so glad that people are reading it!

I just wanted to write fluffy things tonight. So I did. here, have them.


	17. Break Down Here

Later That Afternoon

"Fuckin told 'im that rig was a piece of shit last time it broke when we were movin." Daryl mumbled. Brianne had fallen asleep and her head was on his shoulder and Merle was sleeping with his head against the passenger side window. Merle came alive, rolling down the window to have a cigarette and hearing the loud snore of the sleeping female with her head buried in his baby brother's neck, Merle snickered and nodded to Brianne as he commented casually, "Two of ya are awful close." as Daryl gave him a patent warning glare. It wasn't the first time Merle had broached this subject with Daryl and Daryl was not in the mood to discuss it now, mostly because he wasn't sure just how to tell her what he knew he felt towards her.

And he wanted to give her time to get over all the shit Shane Walsh had done to her in the past.

The truck's coming to an eventual stop behind Andrea's car had Brianne sitting up, stretching, looking around. When she saw the RV up ahead, smoke billowing from beneath it's hood, she grumbled and muttered pretty much the same Daryl had mumbled just a few seconds before. "Seriously, what's holding that damn thing together, hopes and dreams? It's broken every single time he's tried to do any actual driving in the damn thing. And now here we are, stranded on the damn highway and it's fucking hot, Christ." Brianne grumbled grumpily, making Daryl snicker at her but nod to some bottled waters sitting on the floorboard of the old truck. Brianne grabbed a bottled water, held it out to Daryl after uncapping it and he took it, drinking half. She pouted and then told him, "Hey, I didn't say drink half of it, Daryl."

"i was thirsty, woman, hell."

"I know. It's okay, I was kidding." Brianne smiled a little when he wasn't looking. They all got out of the truck, Merle and Andrea giving each other looks but Andrea making a hasty retreat, it was clear that she was still so angry that Merle played his hand back at the CDC and gave her no actual choice on whether she remained alive or not, he simply took her out of the situation. Their argument continued near an abandoned Volvo just three cars away from Daryl's truck. Daryl nodded to the cars just as Shane yelled out and made a big deal of having found an abandoned water truck, even pouring the water over his head and laughing.

"That fucking moron is going to lead any walkers that happen to be nearby straight to us." Brianne said before hissing Shane's name and then hissing in an icy tone, "Can it, dumbass."

Daryl couldn't help the slightly proud smirk that came easily when he heard her say the words. Brianne went towards an abandoned Mustang GT and before she made it too far, his arm shot out, keeping her from moving any further until he'd scanned the area around the car. When Daryl saw there were no walkers, he gave a nod and Brianne gave a soft laugh as she stopped for a few seconds in front of him and then just fluffed his hair up like she did most of the time to get a rise from him. She began to investigate the car's contents, laughing a little quietly when she found a bag full of men's clothing, another bag of women's clothing and at least 3 guns in the backseat. Daryl took two of the guns and turned his nose up at the mens clothes... They were all the damn fancy designer kind, button up shirts, jeans he wouldn't be caught dead in and he'd wear his own shit until it fell apart if that was his only other option. Brianne shrugged and dug around more and that's when she found the lighter...

She pocketed it as kind of a surprise for Daryl later. She'd gotten out, moved to the next vehicle, Daryl working quietly beside her.. He saw the shooting star necklace hanging from the rearview of the Camry and he reached it in, taking it out when he knew Brianne was preoccupied looking through a station wagon a few cars away with Carol and her nephew Carl and Carol's kid Sophia. He'd keep it, maybe he'd give it to Brianne later... If he ever figured out how the hell to finally tell her how he felt about her, that is. And every time he considered it, the possibility, his mind would taunt him, he'd remember just what kind of world they were living in now and how he did not want to get attached and then lose her at some point... But he couldn't just turn off the feelings he felt for her, either.

And then the groans and the shuffling of feet that indicated that a horde was incoming filled his ears, breaking him from his thoughts. His first instinct was to grab her and drag her beneath the truck he was standing next to, his arm over her, a four way tire tool he'd been about to toss into the back of his truck in his free hand. She curled into him carefully and he held his finger over her lips as quite a few of the Walkers passed by, getting almost too close for comfort. Merle was beneath the next vehicle and he and Andrea were forced to momentarily pause their argument. The first few walkers vanished from sight and Brianne had just been about to relax and crawl from beneath the truck but then she heard more groaning and shuffling and Daryl gripped her. This time, everything that happened all happened so fast that after it happened, it seemed as if it had been a big nightmare.

Sophia made a noise, purely accidental. One of the walkers noticed her, hiding there with Carl and the Walker bent, it's rotting arm reaching beneath the vehicle as Carl scooted out of it's way and Sophia tried to. It grabbed hold of her leg but she got loose and her first instinct was to run... And she ran straight for the woods at the side of the highway and Brianne hid her face in Daryl's shirt to keep from screaming. Her heart was still hammering almost like it would hammer out of her chest because for quite a few long seconds there, it looked as if the Walker was going to grab both kids and just the thought of it had Brianne freaking out.

"No, no." Brianne muttered as Daryl said quietly, "When the herd passes, we'll go down, see iff'n we cain't track 'er. Just be quiet and be still right now, woman." in the calmest voice he could manage, she was panicking. "But they went after her.."

"It's gon be okay, Brie. Now stop talkin before they hear ya." Daryl said that a lot more firm, his voice came out as more of an angry command than anything and she flinched, but he thought to himself, _'If something happened to you, Brianne.'_ as he held one of his fingers over his lip. When Andrea saw what happened Merle had to quickly clamp his hands over her mouth because her mouth opened and he knew she was about to scream because he knew where her mind went, he knew she was seeing the damned walkers eating her sister Amy all over again, she was reliving it. "Keep yer damn mouth shut, blondie or yer gon get eaten." Merle snapped though in the back of his mind he was focused solely on the safety of himself, Andrea, his brother and Brianne. Because within this so called group, they were probably the ones who'd stuck together more effectively as of late.

He barely knew the others, didn't give a damn to know any of the others, given that they'd indirectly cost him his hand.

All that mattered was keeping those he allowed close to him as safe as possible and he figured if Andrea was still pissed with him for doing that, then so be it. He'd deal with it later.

Rick saw movement and he realized T Dogg was still up ahead, that he'd been caught off guard when the herd came, he'd gone further ahead in the line of abandoned cars that lie stretched in front of them. He tried to hiss for the man and warn him, but he knew better... One wrong word and the herd would be back and they'd be attacking everyone in the group, hungry.

Daryl was focused intently on the herd as it made it's way away from the group. As soon as he got a clear shot, he fully intended to go down into the woods and see if he could find the kid somewhere. Finally, they were gone and the scream Carol had been stifling came, shattering the silence as it ripped past her lips. Lori held Carol in a hug and then tried to convince her they were going to go right away and find Sophia before she got too far away, too deep in the woods. Carl slid out from beneath the truck and ran to his mom, upset.

Daryl eyed the forest and Merle told him impatiently, "Kid's gone by now, brother. We ain't gon find her, she had at least 3 of them damn thangs on 'er tail." which Daryl shrugged and replied firmly, "I ain't just gonna stand by and not look for 'er either, Merle." as Rick eyed the fading sun and Daryl told the men in the group, "If we wanna catch up to 'er before she gets too lost, we best get going now."

Merle swore to himself as he grabbed a gun and loaded it. Andrea stopped him, looking up. She was about to say something, anything, instead, she grumbled quietly, "Go on then, stubborn ass. Go off and get yourself bitten too."

"if my brother is goin, woman, I'm goin too." Merle grumbled, glaring angrily at the other male members of the group. Brianne stopped Daryl just before he vanished into the treeline and held out his arrows, waiting until he'd put them into his carrier and then taking both of his larger and rough hands in hers as she said quietly, "You're a good man, Daryl... Just come back in one piece, okay? I'd miss having you to pick fights with and to irritate." as he smirked and lit up a cigarette, saying nothing... her words though, they washed over him, lingering in his mind, staying with him... he hadn't heard things like that often. It felt good to hear them, to hear her saying them to her.

"If we're goin, we best go now. Everybody stick together. And don't fuckin shoot if you don't hafta. I ain't doin this to get my ass bitten, got it?" Daryl grumbled as the men made their way into the woods in a group. Brianne stood there, watching him as he disappeared into the trees, a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach... "He'll be okay... Both of them have heads of rock." Andrea spoke up from beside her, sighing a little.

"I just hope they find Sophia. I mean it's going to be dark soon."

"I hope they find her alive... Carol isn't... I know how she feels right now." Andrea muttered, raking her hand through her hair as she watched the woods impatiently.

* * *

Oh wow, I'm smiling so big right now, like I have 27 reviews, 66 (how in the.. my writing sucks in my opinion) favorites and 94 follows. I love you guys so much and i thank you from the bottom of my heart for continuing to read and support this. Sorry that people are mildly ooc, but I really am trying. This is just my own take on the characters. Plenty of fluff here, and a lot of MAndrea. I will go down with that actual ship. i wish they'd given it a try. it could've been cool. I hope you guys like this and I'm so glad that people are reading it!

Okay, so here is the deal, pickles... I'm thinking of having Sophia stay alive too. And having the men find her while searching and bring her back. I won't be keeping Everyone who died alive, just hated that Carol had to lose everything during all this.. i'm not sure yet, but there is a chance that I'll leave Sophia alive too.

Sorry it took so incredibly long to update, I had a long few days and hardly any time to sit down and write anything. And then when I did, it turned out like shit? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this and all your reviews encourage me and make me smile and want to cry because I'm so happy and I just love you all so much oh my god, I can't even. - Hugging you all and sending you good vibes and love and luck.-


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